Double Dose
by Cerabellum's Matrix
Summary: Sequel to "The Abyss"-Bethany Niles has found herself a normal life in Gotham working as none other than the right hand of The Scarecrow. But soon Dr. Crane begins acting...odd. Almost like a completely different person, even. Can Beth handle her boss's altering persona, or will she find out the hard way just how morbidly psychotic The Scarecrow can be? Read and Review, please!
1. Bethany and Jonathan Move House

Ten thirty a.m. at Gotham Square. People who woke up late for work still scramble for the doors to their offices and highschool drop-outs hang around in groups by the benches and water fountain, smoking cigarettes and chatting seriously about the importance of individualism within the conformist society. Small children, too young for school, cling to their mothers' hands as they're led to the store or the baby-sitter's. The red lights turn green, and the cars drive on, accident free. It hasn't rained, and only a few white, poofy clouds invade the peaceful sky. Yes, it was a perfectly normal day in Gotham, as everyone went about their routine.

That is, until the unfamiliar sound of clicking heels reached the doorway of Gotham City Bank.

Clad in business attire, a red blouse and black slacks, a woman with large aviator glasses covering her eyes entered, a grey Gucci purse clasped in her gloved hand. Her red lips made a slight upturn as she passed the security guards and clicked up to the front desk.

"May I help you?" a young man said in boredom. She smiled fully at him, and nodded.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal, please." she said. He sighed.

"I'll need a name and Identification, please..."

"Of course." she handed him a small card, and he looked at it. He became confused.

"Is this some sort of joke?" he asked, waving the red card with the picture of a crow on it. The woman huffed, and opened her Gucci purse. A thick gas hissed from it, and hit the young man in the face. His eyes widened, and he began screaming as the gas spread throughout the room.

"Wrong villain, sweetheart." the woman said, a small gas mask covering her mouth. "Not much joking in my line of work." Her aviators were gone, and her grey eyes gleamed happily as she walked through the frightened crowd of people to the vault. She tapped the code into the key panel and the large door popped open for her to enter. "Oh, so much cash." she said, whistling at the neatly stacked bills of money that covered the shelves. She took from her pocket a felt bag and began stuffing it with the beautiful green. Once it was filled, she walked form the room and sealed the door behind her. She stepped over the various people who had collapsed to the ground as they shouted fearfully, and waved to the young man she'd spoken with before leaving the bank and walking calmly to the old car that awaited her. Once inside, she pulled away from the parking lot and drove into the direction of The Narrows. For the people of Gotham City, it was a scandal.

For Bethany Niles, it was a perfectly normal day.

...

"You're taking forever on purpose, aren't you?"

"No, your handwriting is just difficult to read."

"Bullshit."

"Yes, that's what it looks like."

Bethany thunked her head onto the table as Jonathan smirked at her from behind his glasses. They were in the kitchen, and he was grading her latest english test he'd given her. He was taking an excruciatingly long time, and that made her anxious. She hated getting bad grades, mostly because of the condescending leer Jonathan gave her when she did. It was horribly annoying. When Jonathan was finally finished, he handed the test over to her and she snatched it from him.

"Eighty-nine..." she said, looking at the red number at the top of her paper. She beamed. "Yes! I'm awesome." she said brightly.

"I hardly think so. You couldn't even make an 'A'." Jonathan said, teasing of course.

"Shut it, Straw-Boy. I'm awesome, and you're just jealous of my awesomeness." Beth stuck her tongue out at him. He sighed and took off his glasses.

"Arrogance like that will get you in trouble."

"Says you, of all people. All you are is arrogant and judgmental and mean and-"

"And your boss who pays you fair wage." Jonathan interrupted, and Beth shot him a look.

"Hey, I just robbed a bank s you could pay me. What the hell is up with that?" she asked. Jonathan shrugged.

"You know we don't have many clients during the summer months. It's usually near holidays when our services are really needed." he said. Beth kicked her feet up onto the table and leaned back into her chair, still feeling smug about herself. Her wolf, Chance, ambled into the kitchen and licked her face. She pet his thick black fur and smiled.

"Hello, light of my life. How are you?" she asked. Chance huffed, and dropped his head into her lap. Beth frowned, and scratched behind his ears. "He needs to run around..." she muttered shyly to Jonathan.

"We took him out last week." Jonathan said sternly as he lit a cigarette.

"Two weeks ago, actually. And he needs more running time than that. And not in some warehouse full of cigar smoking goons." she said, referring to their area of operations where she took Chance once in a while so the wolf could stretch his long legs. Jonathan took a drag from the cigarette and exhaled the smoke.

"Well, what are you suggesting we do? Can't that Sarah friend of yours keep him with her?" he asked. Beth shook her head.

"No, she's only for emergencies. Couldn't we move out of this place?" she asked, gesturing to the room. "We've been here since I was twelve, maybe you were here for longer. It smells, and the ceiling in my room leaks when it rains." she said.

"I thought you liked it here." he said with a quirk of a smile.

"I'm being serious, Jonathan. We need to get out of here." she said.

"This place is secure, and perfectly hidden from police-"

"And it's held up by rotten wood. We're gonna wake up one day with the house in nothing but a pile of splintered sticks around us. It's more dangerous living here than it is living where Batman might find us. At least he won't kill us with mildew..."

"I get it, I get it..." Jonathan rubbed his face once and he sighed. "What about that place you stayed at when you returned here from Ra's?" he asked.

"It'll work. No one ever goes way out there anyway." Beth said. "The trees are too thick, and it becomes pitch black in those woods at night if you aren't on the trail-"

"Aye, boss! You here?" a voice called from the living room. Beth and Jonathan watched as John walked into the kitchen.

"What is it?" Jonathan asked.

"Jus' doin' the weekly check in. Makin' sure you ain't dead an' all that." John said.

"We're moving." Beth said. John's eyes widened, and he looked around the dilapidated room.

"What? And leave this five star resort to rot?" he asked sarcastically.

"It'll be farther from the city," Jonathan said, ignoring John's comment. "But it'll be more convenient for the mutt." he pointed to Chance, whose tongue lolled from his mouth as he panted.

"And not to mention cleaner, safer, newer, etcetera." Beth said. "You know, everything this place_ isn't_." As back-up to Beth's claim, one of the kitchen cabinet doors fell from its hinges and clattered onto the floor. Chance growled, and Beth smirked as she stared at Jonathan with a 'you know I'm right' look on her face.

"Don't give me that look." Jonathan said.

"So when you leavin'?" John asked. As an answer, the house made a rather threatening groan. Beth gripped Chance nervously.

"_Now._.."

...

"Good thing I don't have asthma." Beth wheezed between coughs and sneezes the next day as they brought their things into her old home from four years ago. A thick layer of dust coated everything, and their walking around inside made it swirl into the air and into their lungs. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"You said this place would be cleaner!" Jonathan coughed, and Beth shrugged.

"Well it will be, once we _clean_ it." she said, and opened the heavy curtains to allow light to pour in through the living room window. She unhitched the latch and opened the window itself to allow the dust to escape and fresh air to invade the small home. Her bags were resting on the couch, dust settling on top of them in large motes. Ick.

"Absolutely ridiculous." Jonathan muttered when he was able to breath at last. "Where is the bedroom?"

"Down the hall. Last door, I think." Beth answered, and he went grumbling down the small hallway to drop off his things. Beth looked over to Chance. "Sorry, buddy. Looks like your bed's taken." she said.

"Why is there dog hair all over this thing?!" Jonathan asked angrily from their room. "Did you sleep with that dog?!"

"No, I slept on the floor!" Beth said. "Chance took the bed."

"Absolutely, incredibly, undoubtedly ridiculous!" he replied, and went on grumbling. Beth tsked at her boss, remembering how oddly difficult it was for him to leave the old, rundown home in The Narrows. She'd miss it too, because of the memories, but not as much as he would, she guessed. Took her ten minutes to coax him out of the damned kitchen. And now he was as cranky as a small child who had his favorite toy taken from him.

"And he calls _me _childish. Hmph." she said as she opened more windows. Jonathan walked into the room with the old bed sheets.

"I refuse to sleep in this dog hair infested heap of cloth." he said, dropping the sheets onto the couch. Beth took them up.

"I'll just wash them. Quit whining so much. That's _my _job." she said, and brought the sheets into the tiny washroom with just a washing machine and dryer and two feet of foot space. Once the wash was going, Beth walked back to the living room, thankful that the water was still running in this place. She found Jonathan sitting with his arms crossed on the couch, staring at the wall stubbornly. "What's your problem?" she asked.

"I haven't any idea what you're talking about." he said. "I'm just sitting here."

"Ugh..." Beth walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. She rest her chin on his shoulder and pouted, her nose almost touching his cheek. "It's okay if you miss the old house Jonathan." she said like she was talking to a toddler. "We will all miss the old house. But the new house is nice too, and will keep you all warm and cozy." she said. Jonathan quirked a brow at her.

"If I punched you now, you know it would be justifiable, right?" he asked. She grinned, and poked his cheek.

"Yup, but then I'd go ninja on you and karate chop you into another nationality. Hmm, a korean Scarecrow. That'd be interesting."

"You're thoughts are too random, sometimes." Jonathan mumbled, and pointed to a light purple stain on the carpet. "What is that?"

"Oh, that's from when you figured who I was and I threw the wine because you ran off like a sissy. That might come out with some Mr. Clean or something." Beth said. Jonathan stilled for a moment.

"Nothing good happened here." he said. Beth sighed heavily and squeezed his hand with her own.

"Good stuff will happen, I promise." she said, then gave a sly smile. "But how soon depends on whether or not you want to wait on the bed sheets to dry." She rolled her eyes in amusement when Jonathan's lips came crashing down on hers.

...

Jonathan watched her sleep that night, unable to sleep himself. He stared at the thin, hardly visible scars over her cheek that Croc gave her some years ago when she was a doctor at Arkham. His eyes found the other various scars that littered her naked torso, all barely noticeable, but still there all the same. She'd have as many as he had soon. That's what happened when you were a guard for a masked villain; you got a fair share of scratches fighting vigilantes. Beth shivered, and Jonathan pulled the clean blanket over her shoulder to cover her.

"Ridiculous thing." he whispered. They'd been intimate for a little over a year now. It was a slow process for them, what with Bethany's not-to-pretty first experience with her scum of a stepfather when she was young. Jonathan was patient, and slowly, they were able to achieve the relationship they had now. For Bethany, it was a psychological breakthrough. For Jonathan, it was a major achievement in his psychology career. But, even though he was patient, he would admit that every time Beth drew back in fear and self-consciousness, he'd curse her father's name with the most evil words his vocabulary held, wishing sorely that he could bring him back from the dead just so Jonathan could kill him again in the worst ways humanly possible. Jonathan was not a cheating man, after all, and that shred of morality he had resulted with him remaining celibate for years.

Not months.

Not days.

_Years._..

Jonathan breathed a sigh of personal accomplishment for the millionth time that he was able to have so much self control as he thought of that fact. Beth shifted position, and he draped his arm over her as she got closer. He looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling and thought of the new living arrangement they had. It was small, but at least the damned dog wouldn't be whining at them day and night to go outside. Now the mutt would be able to _stay_ outside, away from Jonathan and his work. And Beth was right, even though the dust wasn't quite yet gone, at least this place did smell eons better. But still, the other house had so much history inside its withering walls. It was his home away from Arkham for many years, and completely hidden from the Batman. This new place was pretty well hidden, too. No one ever came out here anymore. The woods were completely black at night, and there wasn't any wildlife Jonathan knew about save for the birds and squirrels. So hunters and people of the like wouldn't ever invade on Jonathan and Beth's security. He...supposed this place would do. He'd just need to get used to the silence. They were far away from the noises of the city now, and the quiet was almost unnerving.

Jonathan snorted. _Unnerving._ Hell, where he grew up only the sounds of hungry crows and the ramblings of his insane grandmother kept him company. The life of a farm boy...he should be used to such silence.

Jonathan closed his eyes in slight annoyance as he tried to keep his mind away from his childhood. It wasn't the funnest place to visit. He got closer to Beth and rest his face in her long black hair.

He was asleep in moments.

...

_Bethany was resting by a towering tree in the woods, a strange, two-headed wolf staring at her. One head had wiry brown fur, and rich brown eyes that contemplated her presence. She'd seen him before. The other's acid green eyes stared at her from it's choppy black fur as it growled, yellow spittle falling from its threatening mouth. It was new. Beth calmly flattened out the folds of her red dress as she stood up and took a simple axe from the tree. She looked at the head with brown eyes. _

_"You have another head." she said, pointing to the growling one. _

_"Obvious." The brown-eyed wolf said. Beth raised the axe and rest it on her shoulder._

_"Want it gone?" she asked. Now the brown-eyed wolf gave a short growl of warning. _

_"Kill one and we both die." he said. Beth cocked her head to the side. The green-eyed wolf's growls were still becoming louder. _

_"Both?" she asked the brown-eyed wolf._

_"Both."_

_"It seems dangerous." she said as the growls of the green-eyed wolf grew louder. _

_"So it seems." the brown-eyed wolf said._

_"What does it do?" she asked. The green-eyed wolf barked sharply, acquiring her attention. It moved it's mouth to shape a single word. _

_**"Kill..."**_

Beth awoke with a start and sat up. The digital clock read 3:16. Somehow her legs became tangled with the sheets while she slept, and she wriggled around until she was free of them.

"Weird ass dreams, man..." she muttered, and looked over to where Jonathan slept.

He wasn't there.

"Must be doing some work." she said, used to frequently waking up to find he'd gone earlier either to the living room to do paperwork or to the warehouse to work on a new experiment he'd thought up. She got up from the bed and wrapped a black robe around herself before walking over to the bathroom. She flicked on the light.

And there was Jonathan.

"Oh, shit, sorr-" Beth began to say, but when she noticed he wasn't using the facilities, she faltered. He was standing in front of the mirror, his eyes fluttering open and closed, not showing any sign that he even noticed Beth. "Uh..." she reached down and took up the roll of toilet paper before tossing it lightly at him so she didn't get hurt if he jerked awake and did something crazy. It bounced off his shoulder, and his eyes snapped open. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes before looking quizzically around the small room. His brow furrowed.

"What the hell?" his gaze snapped onto Beth's confused expression. "S'goin' on?" he asked drowsily.

"Uh-um...I think you may have been sleepwalking." she said. That was the only logical answer.

"I don't sleepwalk..." Jonathan muttered. Beth shrugged her shoulders at him.

"Well, maybe the stress of moving made you act a little funny." she suggested. Jonathan thought it over and finally nodded.

"Sounds logical to me. Whatever. I feel horrible."

"Well, you've been standing here for who knows how long. You should get to bed." Beth said. Jonathan nodded again dully and walked out without another word. Beth watched him go, and she shut the door behind him so she may use the facilities. She looked at the mirror and frowned.

Yup, it was Monday.

...

**Author's note: Yay, Mondays. Blech. Anyway, welcome to the sequel to The Abyss! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Stay tuned for the next one! ;D**


	2. Jonathan Has A Business Meeting

The next morning, Beth walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, all oddness of last night gone from her mind. What she was currently thinking about was the smell of coffee leading her to the kitchen.

"Coffee..." she grunted when she entered, and went straight past Jonathan to the coffee pot.

"You sound melodious this morning..." he mused as he took a drink from his own cup as he scanned over the morning paper that John brought him about an hour before. Beth wrinkled her nose at him and sat down at the small table.

"And you sound way too pleasant on this Monday." she said. "Stop it and suffer like the rest of us." Jonathan snorted and continued reading the paper. Beth contemplated her boss' light mood for a moment. Normally he'd be just a surly as an angry badger in the morning, but there was something different today. Her brow furrowed when she noticed his coffee. "When did you take milk with your coffee?" she asked, knowing he'd always preferred it black, and usually hated it with anything added. She frowned, remembering that the last guy that brought him light brown coffee on a Monday was currently sitting at the bottom of a lake in Metropolis. Jonathan picked up his coffee again and took a drink from it.

"I guess the move inspired me to change up my own routine a little bit...or something." he said, clearly satisfied with his vague answer and the coffee. Beth gave him a disbelieving look, and he rolled his eyes. "Look, It's just coffee. It's nothing to read so closely into." he said, and turned the page to his paper.

"Alright, chill out." Beth said, giving up. She rest her chin on her hand and looked out the window into the thick woods outside.

'It's just coffee'.

That was exactly what the guy sitting at the bottom of the lake said.

...

When midday came, Beth and Jonathan were doing their rounds in the warehouse, asking John and Micheal questions about new clients and traffic, and barking orders at the lower thugs who were their for mostly heavy lifting and transportation. A new recruit accidentally bumped into Beth while running to check the new shipment of ingredients for Jonathan's toxins, and he fearfully babbled a quick apology before beginning to run off. There was a soft poofing sound, and something small stuck into the back of the recruits neck. His eyes widened, and he fell to the floor, screaming. The others ignored his shouts and worked faster, while Beth looked bewildered at Jonathan.

"The hell did that come from?" she asked. He held up a small gun for her to see. Where there was usually a cartridge, there was a thicker cartridge with tiny vials of yellow liquid lined up.

"New experiment I came up with." He said smugly. "A sort of dart gun for hitting enemies at long range. It's also quite unnoticeable, unlike gas, which everyone can see as it comes towards them. No one will see or hear these sneak up on them. They'll be caught completely off guard. It's proving satisfactory so far." he said, nodding his head towards the still screaming man. "Someone get him some damned antidote!" He barked, and two thugs shuffled quickly to the screamer and lifted him up. "And teach him to look where he's going once he's again sane!" Jonathan said as they dragged the recruit away to be given aid.

"Cool. I want one." Beth reached out to snatch the dart gun, but Jonathan held it away from her.

"Unfortunately, It's still under design. I'll give you one once I perfect it."

"Goody."

"We have an appointment tonight with a new client. We'll be leaving at six."

"Where at?"

"The Burg. He's a bit on the classy side. Goes by the name of Jackson Hulett."

"Penguin know about this?"

"He's the one who contacted me. There'll be a masquerade benefit tonight, so we'll be safe. Have you anything to wear for it?"

"Yeah, I have some dresses. Not very fancy, but one will do." she said, looking down at her black crop-top and grey cargo pants. "I'm not much a fan of fancy clothes."

"That much is obvious." Jonathan said humorously. Beth frowned.

"If there weren't people here, I would, and I quote Scarface: Deck ya in the shnoz an' watch ya bleed, pretty boy." she said, attempting her best Scarface impression.

"You think me 'pretty'?" Jonathan asked, bemused.

"I think you to look a little on the feminine side, yes." Beth admitted. Jonathan coughed a short laugh at that. Beth smiled. "Yeah, you do look kinda girly." she teased.

_'Run girly, run!' _a small, faintly familiar voice echoed into Jonathan's mind. His smile wiped quickly away. He shook his head, and Beth cocked her head to the side. "You okay, doc?"

"Yes, fine. Just be ready at six." he said briskly, and walked off in agitation, leaving Beth standing in confusion.

"Was it something I said?" she asked herself.

"Boss isn't too tolerant of any sort of teasing." someone said, and Beth turned to see Michael standing next to her.

"He'd never reacted that way before when I teased him..." she muttered. Michael shrugged.

"Maybe what you said stirred some bad memories. I dunno. Just be careful what you tease him about." he said. Beth bit the inside of her lip.

"He's been acting weird for a while." she said.

"How so?"

"I saw him sleepwalking last night, and this morning he was drinking coffee with milk. He doesn't like coffee with milk." she said.

"Sleepwalking is a common thing, especially to people who've been goin' under a lot of stress. And a change in coffee preference isn't something to get too worked up about. I'd just put it out of my mind if I were you. No need in being wary over nothing, y'know?" he said, and clapped her on the back before returning to his work. Beth watched him go and twiddled her thumbs for a moment in thought. Maybe he was right. In normal cases these oddities Jonathan faced were very common.

"But he's not a normal person." she said, frowning. Jonathan Crane was a precise, calculating man who was a slave to routine and liked everything to be exactly how he preferred it to be. And God dammit, he didn't like his coffee with milk in it!

Beth blinked, and snorted at how worked up she was getting. "I'm going nuts, worrying over coffee like this." she said. Michael was right, he had to be. Something as small as a change in coffee preference didn't mean anything major. How could it? "Nothing. Nothing to worry about." she said, and walked off to observe the work some more.

...

"I still don't think this dress will blend in..."

"You look fine. Stop worrying so much. That's all you can do lately."

"Okay, okay..." Beth placed the simple black eye mask over her face before stepping out of the sleek black car and onto the carpet that lead to the entrance of the Iceberg Lounge. Her strapless red dress fell just past her knees and the hem had a vine pattern embroidered around it. Her hair was confined in an uncomfortable braid that was wrapped around to make a french style bun,only leaving two strands of her hair to frame her face. Jonathan wore a sleek black suit with a silver undershirt and black and silver tie. His hair was slicked back to keep the wiriness of it down. They each scanned the rest of the crowd that was making their way into the lounge. All had masks that varied greatly in styles. Some wore the simple black masks that Jonathan and Beth wore, while others wore masks complete with outrageous feathers and colorful patterns splayed over them. Yes, the two criminals would blend perfectly.

"Now to find our client." Jonathan said, and moved forward with Beth, his hand pressing at the small of her back.

"'Kay, but how do we find our guy Hulett in a sea full of masks?" she asked.

"He gave me the details of his mask. Look for one with a golden beak and bright red feathers." he said. "And please don't embarrass us in front of this one." he added, making Beth's face redden.

"How am I embarrassing?" she asked.

"You stuffed your face at our first meeting-"

"What, you expect me to waste a perfect lobster?"

"You spilled wine on the client at our second meeting-"

"A little mistake! He said it was fine!"

"And I'll just skip to our last meeting. You stared at the woman's mole the entire time we talked-"

"Hey, that wasn't a mole, alright? It was like some giant brown space creature growing on her face and using her as a host so it could feed on her blood and then spawn thousands of baby mole-aliens once it's had its fill so they can spread over the globe and wipe out human civilization as we know it..." Beth said, splaying her hands dramatically to get her point across. Jonathan rolled his eyes at her.

"Alright, no more science fiction novels for you, first of all. And secondly, no matter how alien someone's features may be, you are not permitted to stare at them with your eyes bulging ridiculously!"

"Fine, fine! But when one of those things attaches to your face, don't come whining to me!" she said, and crossed her arms as they continued to search for Jackson Hulett.

"There's our man." Jonathan finally said once they began looking inside the building. And there he was, indeed, wearing the golden, beaked mask with very long red feathers glued at the edges. He was a short man, fat, with almost no hair on his head save for two white tufts that grew just above his ears. He was looking around nervously, as expected of a client of the Scarecrow. He even smacked a woman with his beak when he turned his head, and ended up apologizing repeatedly to both her and her fuming husband. Once they were gone, Jonathan and Beth walked up to his shaking form.

"That was crazy, huh?" Beth said, and Hulett jumped at her voice before turning to see them. He nodded, and began looking around again, not knowing that they were the people he was searching for. When he noticed that they didn't leave, he looked directly at them.

"D-do you need something?" he asked. Jonathan shrugged.

"Nothing really. We're just here to make some business negotiations." he said. Hulett nodded.

"Y-yes, me too. But it seems my business dealer has yet to arrive.." he said.

"Oh really? How inconsiderate." Jonathan mused.

"Quite. If it wasn't for extreme circumstances, I wouldn't have needed to communicate with such a waste of-"

"Alright, let's not say anything so quickly there, old man." Beth said before Hulett could finish his insult of Jonathan Crane to Crane himself. Hulett looked at her.

"How rude. But then again, young people today are nothing but rude. No respect for their elders." he said, shaking his head sardonically. Beth gave an ironic smile. In keeping him from insulting Jonathan, she got him to insult her. Wonderful.

"Now, now, Mr. Hulett." Jonathan said finally. "Let's not make harsh comments. It's not good for business." Hulett's eyes bulged.

"How do you-"

"It's _us_, Mr. Hulett." Jonathan said, mentally stabbing this man for being so oblivious. Hulett jumped again, and began sputtering a garble of words. Jonathan shushed him, and began leading him towards the receiving desk.

"Reservation?" The girl working there asked sweetly. He lifted his mask to show his entire face just briefly. The girl nodded at him, and picked up some menus.

"Right this way, sirs and ma'am." she said, and led them to a table in the center of the lounge, where they were surrounded by everyone. Hulett regarded this arrangement with little enthusiasm.

"No privacy?" he asked as he seated himself. Jonathan seated Bethany before sitting down and took the menus from the girl.

"Thank you, Sparrow. We'll have three waters, please." he said to her. She bowed her head once, and walked away to retrieve the drinks. He then looked at Hulett. "What was that?"

"I said why don't we have privacy?" Hulett said, keeping his voice hushed.

"Ah, yes, observe." Jonathan said, and turned his head towards the crowd of seated people. "I have a bomb!" he said loudly. Hulett started. Surely everyone would panic at those words. Then they'd be caught, and he'd be placed in prison for associating himself with a criminal mastermind! His reputation would be destroyed!

"Madman.." he muttered as he closed his eyes in wait for the first scream.

Nothing happened.

He looked up at the crowd of unaware people. All acting normal, like nothing happened.

Hulett's face was pale as Jonathan turned back to him. "You see? Complete privacy is best achieved in a crowd of self-obsessed people who are so oblivious that they don't even notice the waiters bringing them their food. They're too engrossed in their conversations of expensive vacations and upcoming charity funds to notice anyone else besides the people at their table!" Hulett was dumbfounded by this observation, and his cheeks went red when he remembered that these very people Jonathan insulted were the people that he himself hung around every day.

"Oh..." was all he said. When Sparrow came back with the waters, he downed his own in a few large gulps. Jonathan smirked at the humbled man and cleared his throat.

"Well then, let's get onto business." he said. Hulett began to shake a bit and nodded. "Who is going to have the pleasure of being my next patient, assuming you have the proper funds..." Hulett reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick stack of bills. He quickly handed it to Jonathan, who placed the stack in his own jacket.

"Ten grand, just as you asked." Hulett said.

"I trust you." Jonathan said. "But if I find a single dollar missing..."

"Y-you won't! I swear." Hulett said quickly, and dabbed his forehead with a napkin.

"So, give me a name." Jonathan said. Hulett pulled another item from his jacket. An ID card with a woman's face on it. He gave it to Jonathan, who handed it to Beth.

"Tabitha Palsey. Age twenty-six. She's cute." she said, and looked to Hulett. "So what did she do?"

"Don't let the face fool you. She's a rotten little witch. We were married for two months before she-" and so Hulett went on with what the woman did in order to take over three million dollars from him before divorcing him and taking another fifty percent of everything he owned. A real bitch. As he explained, Jonathan droned himself out, as he always did at these parts of the business deals. All the stories were the same in the end, and he was rather bored with this story of the evil ex-wife.

His eyes scanned over the crowd, watching the people eat and become more raucous as their wine glasses repeatedly filled and emptied. It was disgusting watching them snort into their champagne or brandy as they laughed hysterically at a joke that wouldn't have been very funny had they been sober. He sighed. What a world they lived in.

As he went to turn back to Hulett, who was becoming red as he explained his situation to Bethany, someone caught his eye. A tall man with wavy brown hair walked by their table, his face entirely covered by a full black mask that had horns protruding from the forehead of it. Jonathan couldn't help being suspicious, and watched the man be greeted joyously by a table of what had to be his comrades. He saw the man's eyes look through the holed in the mask, a dark blue color. Alarm bells went off in his brain, but he didn't know why. His eyes narrowed as he continued to stare.

"-oss..._boss_! Dr. Crane!" Beth shook Jonathan's arm to bring him back to his own table, and he blinked at her. She nodded her head at Hulett, who had apparently finished his rant about his ex-wife.

"My apologies, something distracted me from the conversation. Anyway, so you obviously have no favor for your ex."

"Not at all." Hulett said firmly.

"Good. Here's what will happen." Jonathan said, his eyes continuing to glance at the stranger a few tables over. If only he'd take off that damned mask. "You're going to be given three days to confirm whether or not you want to go through with this. Then you'll be given a call. I advise you answer all calls in the next week. If you still want to go through with it, fine, but if you don't, you'll be give three thousand of your money back and you'll not hear from me again, alright?"

"Only three grand?" Hulett asked. Jonathan nodded.

"This is my business, and if I gave all my clients all of their money back then I wouldn't be making very much money at all, would I?"

"I-I suppose not. But...I don't want to wait three days. I stand firm on my decision."

"Ah, yes, many a client has said that. Guess how many of them backed out in their three days..." Jonathan said. Hulett swallowed, and nodded in understanding.

"A-alright fine, is this all done then?" he asked. Jonathan smiled.

"Why Mr. Hulett, it's as if you don't want to be seen with us..." he said.

"Oh, no I didn't mean that-I mean, well, um..."

"The thing is, Mr. Hulett," Beth began, "We need to get through the meal, because even though the people here are usually oblivious, there is always a possibility of someone noticing someone leaving after five minutes of being here, and then they become suspicious, and we don't like that. So, you'll have dinner with us, your treat, and then we'll all be on our way, 'kay?" she said. Hulett sighed greatly, and held his head in his hands.

"I need a brandy." he said. Beth shook her head.

"Nope. No alcohol tonight, or for the rest of the week for that matter. We don't want you blabbing in a drunken stupor." she said. He groaned at that. No alcohol for the rest of the week? Madness. "And while we're eating, we'll explain how our procedures work, like when you'll be contacted and all that. The meeting itself isn't even over yet, so you might as well sit tight." Sparrow came back and asked for their orders. Jonathan ordered the fettucini, and Beth ordered the lobster. Hulett chose the first thing he saw. Spaghetti. Only when Sparrow left did he remember that he hated spaghetti. Damn.

"Like I said before," Jonathan said, "you'll be contacted withing three days to give a confirmation. After that, you'll be kept up to date on the-who the hell is that?" he said finally, unable to contain his frustration with the stranger anymore. Hulett and Beth looked at the man.

"His face is covered, I don't know." Hulett said, and turned back to a disgruntled Jonathan. Beth eyed her boss warily. He never allowed himself to become distracted during meetings with clients. It was unprofessional.

"Anyway," she said, "Go on, boss." Jonathan blinked, and shook his head. Why was he allowing himself to become so distracted? He looked back to Hulett.

"My apologies, I don't know what's come over m-"

"Hello, is this thing on?" someone's projected voice said from a microphone. Everyone turned to see an aged man had taken the stage, a wide grin on his face.

"Hey, that's Charles." Hulett said. "Wonder what the deal is."

"I suppose you're all wondering what the deal is with my old self being up here!" Charles began, and everyone but Jonathan and Bethany laughed. "But I have an important announcement, so listen up! You see, I've been working on a little project for a long time now with an individual who not hardly any of you know. See, he came to me in a time of great need, and once I heard his story, I just couldn't say no. See, this man was the first victim of one of the Arkham Rogues!" A collective gasp came from the crowd of people. "This poor, poor soul, the first victim of this rogue's violent deeds. The first victim of The Scarecrow!" More dramatic gasping. Beth shot her eyes to Jonathan, who stilled in his seat.

"Boss-" she went to say, but he hissed for her to be quiet, and she silenced. On stage, Charles waved for someone from the crowd to join him, and Jonathan watched with narrowed eyes as the stranger he'd been watching walked casually up and stood next to the old man.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this man right here was a schoolmate of Jonathan Crane, and was even friends with him! But no, on the dark night of their senior prom, while this man was ah, havin' a little fun with his lady friend, they were attacked! Attacked by an entity that had the great resemblance of a scarecrow. He tried to escape, but he crashed, paralyzing him, and sadly, ending his girlfriend's life. He researched everything he could on this Scarecrow, and years ago he finally found that our city had it's own straw man and was shocked, no, _dismayed_ to find out that his own _friend_, Jonathan Crane, was this madman! He came to me, in a wheelchair, and asked for help. He wanted to see Crane, but not as a victim, but as someone who had risen above this maniac's schemes, and moved on! For years we've worked hard to help this man, and see now how he stands tall before me! See now how he has no need of a chair or a crutch or a cane! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. Bo Griggs!"

Jonathan blanched as the man took off his mask, revealing a handsome face that smiled out at everyone in the crowd as they cheered and clapped and cried at the story they'd heard. He waved at them, and took the mic from Charles.

"Hello, Gotham! How we doin' tonight!?"

...

**Author's Note: Yes, Bo Griggs is an actual character if you guys didn't know. He's also an asshole. A complete...ass-wipe...**


	3. Jonathan Plays Guitar

"Excuse me." Jonathan said hurriedly, and left the table before Beth or Hulett could ask where he was going. He moved quickly through the crowd of people who stared upstage as Griggs talked.

"I'm real happy to be here tonight." he said. That low, piercing voice shook Jonathan, and he only walked faster towards the mens room. He slammed the door open and nearly fell inside. He ran toward the nearest sink and gripped the porcelain sides as nausea swooped over him. He gagged, thankful that he hadn't eaten anything. After his stomach gave one more lurch, he fell to the floor. A sharp pain in his head greeted him, an he gripped his hair, his mask falling from his face.

"_Ffffffuck!_" he stood, his shoulder's hunched and his once slicked hair once again wiry and everywhere. A man walked in to use the facilities, but Jonathan punched a mirror, sending glass everywhere and the man backed outside quickly without a word. Jonathan watched the blood from his cut up fist run down his arm and drip into the sink and onto the floor. "_God fucking dammit!_" His eyes looked into his reflection in the remaining shards of glass, his face looking as if it were split in two.

What the fuck was Bo Griggs doing in Gotham? He was supposed to be sitting in that miserable town Jonathan crippled him in, suffering. But here he was, in Gotham, and back in Jonathan's life. And he was fucking..._walking_...

"The son of a bitch is walking. _How the fuck is he walking_?!" He shouted at his reflection. "What the hell am I supposed to do about this?" he asked, and hung his head.

**"You kill him..." **someone said. Jonathan shot his head up and looked wildly around.

"Who said that?" he asked.

**"I did..."** the voice said. Jonathan tapped his jacket pocket, which contained a vial of toxin. He walked towards the stalls and opened each as he went past them. No one was there.

"It's not a good idea to fuck with me, sir." he said angrily, removing the toxin from his pocket after he checked the last stall.

**"I'm not fucking with you. I'm right here."**

"Where?"

"Jonathan?" Beth's voice called as she walked shamelessly into the mens room. She gawked at the mirror, then looked at Jonathan and his unkempt appearance. "The hell happened in here?!" she said as she grabbed some paper towels and walked over to him to wrap around his bleeding hand. He hushed her.

"There's someone in here." he said before she could protest. Beth was instantly on the defensive, and she scanned the room before stepping in front of Jonathan to sheild him from any surprise attacks.

"Batman?" she asked him.

"No, the attitude is all wrong." Jonathan said. "Plus he'd have shown himself by now."

"What's the attitude?"

"...Condescending..." Jonathan muttered. Beth waited a few more moments before she turned back to Jonathan.

"You should leave. You're obviously not in the condition to finish the meeting and now there might be someone here to get you." she took out her phone and dialed a number before holding it to her ear as it rang. "Michael, we need you at the Berg so you can pick up Jonathan asap...He's fine, just get here." she clicked her phone shut and looked back at her boss, who was still looking around suspiciously. "So, who's Bo Griggs?" she asked. He looked back down at her. Should he tell her? He knew every detail about her, so it would only serve as fair. He went to speak, but something choked back his words. Not yet...

"I'll tell you...some other time." he said, and walked back with her towards their table after he fixed his hair and straightened his suit out. Griggs was still talking, and each word made Jonathan's headache grow worse. It took all he had to not just walk up there and strangle the bastard. Hulett looked at his paper towel bandaged hand when they returned and gasped.

"My God, what happened?" he asked.

"A small accident, nothing more." Jonathan said. "Unfortunately, I need to leave. Miss Niles will stay here with you though, and continue the meeting until it's finished. Good evening, Mr. Hulett." he said, and walked briskly towards the exit, and away from Grigss' damned voice.

Beth watched him go, then sat herself down again, her attentions now fixed on Bo as he kept talking about his struggles with learning to walk again. He had said earlier that he and Jonathan were friends in highschool. She never thought of Jonathan as a highschooler, and the thought of him having friends like this guy boggled her mind, and that made her wonder how much of Griggs' words were truth. Either way, this man must have meant something in order to make Jonathan react like that. His first victim, huh?

"Bo Griggs, what is your story..."

...

When Bethany returned home early in the morning, she was greeted by Chance, who bounded up to her and licked her tired face.

"Hey boy, how's my handsome man?" she said, and yawned as she opened the door to the small house. The lights were off, and not a sound was being made, besides Chance panting as he walked by Beth to the bedroom, where she found Jonathan sleeping. Deciding to leave him be, she crashed on the couch next to her canine friend, eager to sleep.

...

The next morning, Beth woke up to the sound of some odd melody playing faintly, and she grunted in slight confusion as she sat up and stretched. She looked around for the source, and found that it was coming from the hallway. The bedroom. Standing up, and nearly tripping over Chance's snoozing body, she shuffled down the hall and opened the bedroom door to peek inside. Her mouth dropped open at the sight.

There was Jonathan sitting on the window sill, shirtless, a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, playing something slow on a cherry red electric guitar. He messed up on a chord, cursed under his breath, and started over.

"Uh..." Beth managed to say after staring for a few moments. Jonathan glanced at her for a few short seconds before returning to his playing.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked. Beth pointed to the guitar.

"Where did that come from?!" she asked incredulously. She didn't remember having one of those stashed in the house.

"I got bored last night, so I called Michael to bring me one of his guitars." he explained, then gave her a devious grin. "You sleep heavily around me, do you know that? I'm surprised your snores didn't wake you up, much less the incredible din I created while toting the amp inside..." Beth's face reddened, and she crossed her arms.

"I don't snore..." she said. Jonathan shrugged.

"How would you know? You're sleeping while you're doing it." he said, and went back to plucking at the guitar strings. Beth bit back a comment before it could escape her mouth, cleared her throat, and walked in, her hands clasped behind her back.

"I, uh, I didn't know you played guitar." she said.

"Of course not; I never told you." he said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"When did you learn?" Beth asked, ignoring his sarcasm.

"When I was in highschool, playing the guitar was quite popular, so I put my rigorous studying to the side for a short while and learned this." he said, and then added bitterly, "A complete waste of time, as it turned out."

"What, you didn't get any girls?" Beth asked in disbelief, her eyes roaming his features. He smirked.

"No, none." he said simply. Beth thought about that for a moment. He was hardly a horrible looking person. Was it his attitude? Huh..

"Why not?" she finally asked, deciding to see if she could get the answer out of him. He picked a string a bit hard then, and the sound took more than a few seconds to fade from the amp. His eyes darted from her to the guitar, and he sighed.

"It was the typical reasons; I was a geek, the girls were interested in jocks."

"Jocks?" Beth sat on the bed with a confused expression. Jonathan noted her misunderstanding and looked at her.

"Jocks are boys that belong to various sports such as football or baseball. They are typically muscular, good looking, and have the mental capacity of a mentally handicapped monkey..." he said.

"Something tells me you don't like jock guys..." Beth muttered. Jonathan nodded in morbid agreement.

"For the record, they didn't quite like me either." he said.

"Why?" Beth asked, eager to know. Jonathan stared at her for a hard moment of silence, and finally rest the guitar against the amp. He laced his fingers together and rest his hand on his knees.

"You don't know anything about highschool, do you?" he asked her.

"I know what highschool is. It's where you learn upper level math and english and all that-"

"No, no, no, no..." Jonathan waved off her remark with a dissatisfied expression. "No, the classes are just there. In the end, classes mean little to nothing at all. No, it's what you experience outside the classroom. That's what highschool is about; finding out who you are and what you want to do with your life afterward. It's about finding ones place in society. It's about clicks, gangs, clubs. It's composed of some of the most dramatic moments you will_ ever _experience in your entire life, expensive dances, and homecoming parades. Hormones rage, hearts are broken, people are judged by what they wear and who they associate themselves with. It has underaged drinking, outrageous partying, drugs, sex, loud music, and fights at every football game as school colors clash..._Go Vikings.._." Jonathan exhaled heavily, as if just describing the experience was excruciatingly tiring. Beth, however, was leaning forward in interest at the descriptions of the teenage years she was never able to experience. It all sounded so intense...and _violent_.

"_Cooool._.." she murmured in obvious intrigue. Jonathan shook his head.

"No, not cool. It gave me the most painful years of my life, and you're lucky you never had to go through it." he said.

"Why not?" Beth said. "It sounds great."

"It may, but people like you and myself weren't meant for such excursions. While everyone else was out and about, partying and the like, I was keeping my head down and my existence out of sight."

"Why?" Beth asked.

"Because the rest of them might have seen me."

"And that's so wrong, because..." Beth raised a brow at him. Jonathan gripped his jeans.

"Because...because if they'd seen me, I would have been, ah, beaten."

"Beaten..." Beth said, and then punched her hand with her fist. "As in that kind of beaten?"

"Yes, and though the idiots were never able to spell the word 'concussion' correctly without becoming frustrated, they were quite skilled at giving them. Oh, yes, many times I've woken up head first in a trash can with my face bloody and my clothes torn. I've been pelted with rocks, given swirlies, stuffed and left in lockers overnight, chased, pranked and embarrassed. That's why I tried to keep out of the eyesight of the rest of the highschool world." he said with a hint of malice dripping from his voice. Beth swallowed.

"That sounds...pretty bad..." she said.

"It was a fucking nightmare..." he said.

"So...you were _bullied_..." she dared to ask. He shot her a look, but nodded.

"Yes, yes I was..."

"Why?"

"Because human beings are very judgmental towards each other. They glorify the beautiful and the rich, while those who have neither are considered flawed, outcasts in their society of perfection. I was not handsome or wealthy, so I was punished brutally for it. Such a civilized world we live in..." he ended with a small smile.

"But...you're handsome...and _definitely_ not ugly..." she said.

"Thank you, but, though I wasn't considered _ugly_, I wasn't the most muscular boy that attended my school. In fact, I was quite lanky, with little to no muscle structure at all. And my features, as you've once pointed out, are somewhat...feminine. I don't have the strong jaw or broad shoulders. I was a scrawny person with a herky-jerky gait that warranted unwanted attention. All I had going for me was my brain, and smarts wasn't all the rage back in my day. I was considered weak, and an easy target."

"That's sickening..." Beth seethed, but then she remembered something, and straightened up. "Bo Griggs is a good looking guy, and he's pretty built. He says he was your friend in highschool-"

"He's a dirty liar who deserves to have his tongue cut from his idiot mouth with a dull razor." Jonathan said with intense malice that made Bethany quiet down quickly. "He was the center of my problems. He was the one who enjoyed tormenting me the most, calling me names while he hit me with large rocks that left welts and cuts all over my limbs...he was the first one to call me Scarecrow..."

"Really?" Beth said in shock. Jonathan nodded.

"Because of how skinny I was, and how ratty my clothes were, he'd call me Scarecrow. That started before highschool though. I was in...sixth grade when he started saying that to me. I didn't understand why he was treating me with such animosity, calling me Scarecrow and beating me into the dust...At one point, I took the Scarecrow persona he'd given me and gave it to my shadow, so that I'd have some feeling that it wasn't me he was hating when he looked at me. I'd think, 'he just hates my shadow, not me', and then I'd feel better about myself. But the bullying didn't stop. He kept hurting me, and soon I became resentful of my shadow. I would actually yell at it when I was alone in my grandmother's field, saying that it was its fault that everyone hated me. I'd stamp my foot on it, and punch it until my knuckles were bloody from the hard ground. I channeled all of my resentment, anger, hatred, everything animalistic I ever felt into my shadow, and when I collapsed at the end of the day, I'd feel a shred better. I had my own weak thing to beat with utmost ferocity. In a sense, I was my own bully." he said. He looked down at his shadow thoughtfully for a moment, like he had just noticed an old acquaintance that he hadn't seen for many years.

"Did you ever stop, or do you still yell at your shadow sometimes?" Beth asked seriously, not meaning any jokes or anything. It was a genuine question.

"No, no. It was just a childish thing that I did out of a need for comfort. Once I realized that my level of intelligence far outstripped my classmates, I was relieved. I knew that the power of my mind would take me places, leaving the country trash that tormented me behind in the dirt. But, with my intelligence, also came an ego. I knew I was better than them. I was superior, and I wasn't afraid to show that."

"Of course you weren't." Beth said, the ghost of a smile spreading across her lips.

"Yes, and so with every facedown I had with Bo Griggs' kind, I was always able to manage some comment that would make my torment just a slight bit more uncomfortable..."

"Good to see that they weren't able to beat your sense of superiority down..." Beth said, the smile plain now. Jonathan smiled back.

"Never." A few moments of silence followed, and Beth thought of something a little lighter to talk about.

"So...did you like any girls while in highschool?" she asked. Jonathan shook his head and picked the guitar back up.

"No. They were all airheaded nitwits with eyes for anything that could flex and throw a ball." he said. "In other words: not my type."

"What is your type?" Beth asked, feeling slightly relieved by his answer.

"Quiet, obedient girls who hate dogs and never ask questions." Jonathan answered immediately. Beth paused, then made a sour face at his jovial expression before taking a pillow from the bed and tossing it at him.

"Jerk." she said, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I was only joking." He said when the pillow hit his shoulder and fell lightly to the floor with a soft 'poof'. "My dear, I'm afraid that you are the only woman I've ever managed to keep affectionate feelings for. So, in essence, you are basically my type." he said. Beth sank into the mattress, relaying the words in her mind.

"So you had someone who you had affectionate feelings for before?" she asked. Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"So many questions...If I'd have become a professor, I'd have loved you to be my student-"

"Jonathan Crane, I am your girlfriend, and I have a right to know about the girls you had crushes on so that if I ever do meet them I may swiftly snap their necks and go on with my day." Beth said, sitting up and giving him a stern look. Jonathan sighed, and started picking at his guitar, oddly finding what she'd just said to be slightly romantic.

"If you absolutely must know-"

"Which I must."

"In highschool, there was one girl. Her name was Sherry Squires. She was the captain of the cheerleading team, blonde, and was pined for in vain by every boy at school. She held a certain intelligence that separated her from the other girls, and I found that feature to be intriguing."

"Right, and her hot cheerleader body did contribute at all to the reasons for you having the hots for her." Beth joked. "Did you ever talk?"

"Very seldom. She was Bo's girl, you see."

"Bummer."

"That's what I thought. For all her smartness, she was still susceptible to the spell that jocks were able to put on many of the damsels. When I found out she'd broke it off with him, I was able to muster up the courage to ask her to a Halloween party. She said yes."

"Go Jonathan." Beth rooted with a smile, mentally stabbing Sherry in the torso with a butcher's knife.

"Yes, well, after a while at that party, she asked me to see her alone..."

"Uh-huh..." Beth said, feeling dread grip her. What the hell did they do.

"And she was going to kiss me..."

"Yeah..." Beth's teeth were clenched.

"But something stirred in the dark. Next thing I know, I'm being chased by a ghoul with the head of a pumpkin. I was...frightened, and I ran for it." Jonathan admitted grudgingly. Beth felt guilty for the wave of relief that swept over her, but the mention of a pumpkin headed ghoul stirred something in her memory. She'd read that in one of her fairy tales.

"The Headless Horseman?" she asked. Jonathan nodded yes.

"I was chased outside, and then something hard hit the back of my head. It was the pumpkin. Pieces were all over me. I turned around to see Bo wearing the ghoul costume. Everyone was laughing at me, calling me a scared scarecrow. Sherry was standing next to Bo, laughing as well." Beth felt the small piece of blanket she was gripping tear as she held it tighter, and she let it go. That bitch...

"I'll kill her..." she whispered. Jonathan coughed a short laugh and shook his head.

"The thought is appreciated, but she's already dead." he said. Beth cocked her head.

"From what?"

"Well, you know I like to hold grudges." Jonathan said. "And the memories of the fear that they made me feel kept with me, so I wanted to make them afraid. I wanted to scare them." Beth's eyes widened.

"You mean that's what got you into the fear business?" she asked. Jonathan nodded.

"I was always interested in psychology, phobias being the main interest of mine, but that day made me really want to get into it. I studied books for months, learning everything I could. And finally, when I was ready, prom just so happened to be around the corner. It was perfect. When the day finally arrived, I waited until everyone was at the popular make-out area after the dance was over. I dressed as a scarecrow, fully accepting that part of me. After an hour of hiding in a tree, I set off smoke bombs and cherry bombs to replicate the sound of gunfire. Then, when everyone was making frightened and confused comments, I dropped down to the hood of Bo's car and waved a water gun painted black at him and Sherry. That did it. In seconds, everyone was driving as fast as possible down the narrow dirt road in an attempt to get away from the madman. Bo veered off the road and they hit a tree. He was paralyzed from the waist down, and his football career was gone in seconds. Sherry, smart as she was, wasn't wearing a seatbelt. She was found shoved through the windshield, dead as the day is long." he said, his face flashing a hint of that cruel glee he sometimes showed when he was feeling especially murderous.

"Wow, that's a really cool revenge story." Beth said, impressed by her boss' creativity. He nodded.

"After that, I graduated, and went into work for Ra's, as he was interested in my growing obsession of fear. I was the perfect person for his plans. And you know the rest."

"Yeah, but now Griggs is in Gotham. And he's walking around like he's some sort of superstar." Beth said.

"Yes, I'll just have to deal with that soon. I was willing to let him live the rest of his pathetic life as a cripple, but apparently he just wants to die that badly. I'd hate to disappoint him..." he said.

"Was he worse than Bolton?" Beth asked.

"I dealt with Bolton for a short time. Griggs was in my life until my senior year of highschool. Griggs was definitely worse." Jonathan muttered. Beth whistled at that.

"I don't even want to imagine." she said.

"Well, he's here for something, and I don't think it's to be killed by you. Do you think he has a motive?"

"Most likely. Right now he's probably playing up the pity story so he gets the public on his side and get his hands on some cash. I don't know what he's planning for the future, but I don't plan on him living through the rest of the week if I can help it."

"Of course." Beth said. "So...do all people who are bullied become people like us?" Beth asked, referring to their current situation. They were both bullied, and now they were deranged psychopaths. There must have been a connection.

"There are many people who are bullied, but are able to get on with their lives. Others are driven over some edge. Most commit suicide when they fall. I even considered it in highschool, but, I thought too highly of myself to do that. Instead I decided to take matters into my own hands and pay back society for the shit they put me through. And now here I am. You did the same thing, but much sooner than I did, which I still find to be quite unbelievable."

"Well, I went through some pretty messed up shit too..." Beth muttered. Jonathan noted her discomfort and dropped the subject. While she sulked on the bed, he turned up the volume on his amp with his foot and played some quick chords that Beth swore could have shattered her eardrums. Her hands covered her ears and she scowled at her boss, who grinned sheepishly at her.

"What, you don't like Metallica?" he asked innocently, and turned the volume back down before he finished the song he started.

"My ears are having heart-attacks, and you're acting so not Dr. Crane..." Beth said as a ringing began in her ears. Jonathan ignored the comment, and Chance, who heard the racket, ran into the room to see what was the matter. Beth waited for Jonathan to shoo the 'beast' away, but was shocked to hear what he said instead.

"Hey boy, come here." Jonathan said, putting down the guitar and patting his lap to call Chance over. Chance gave a bewildered look before trotting over to Jonathan and allowing the doctor to scratch behind his ears. Beth was speechless. Jonathan, the hater of all things furry and slobbery was petting the furriest, slobberiest thing on the face of the earth. He was smiling at the wolf that he always loved to insult with icy glares.

What.

The.

Fuck.

"Since when do you like Chance?" she asked loudly. Jonathan looked at her.

"I always liked him." he said simply.

"No, you didn't..." Beth said. "You always make fun of him and complain whenever you see him!" Jonathan tisked at the comment.

"Oh, that's not anything like me." he said, and looked straight into Chance's eyes with a grin. "I love dogs, don't I boy!" he said. Chance barked once, and Jonathan laughed. "See? We're fine!" he said, looking at Beth, who was trying to compute the situation in front of her.

What the hell was going on?

...

**Author's Note: Yeaaaah, a bit wordy there. Long one, haha. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the reviews! Stay tuned for next! ;D**


	4. Jonathan DOESN'T LIKE MILKY COFFEE! :(

"John!" Beth said suddenly some hours later when she and Jonathan arrived to the warehouse where the cronies of the Scarecrow worked. The outburst made John jump startled from his seat and salute instinctively to the person who called his name.

"Sir!" he said in submission, but when he noticed it was only Beth, he scowled and dropped his hand to his side before sitting back down, slightly embarrassed. "Whaddya want, rugrat?" he asked reproachfully as she walked up to him with Chance at her heels.

"Jonathan's acting crazy." she said. He paused, then burst out laughing, slamming his fist on the table one good time before attempting a shot at composing himself and facing a rather disgruntled Beth.

"Ooh, ha, that's _real_ news to me, kid! _Stop the presses!_ Ah-haha!" he finally calmed down and took up a box of cigarettes, regarding Beth's serious expression. "If it took ya this long to figure out that our boss has a few screws loose, then you're nuttier than he is, rugrat." he said. Beth huffed at his sarcasm.

"This is serious, John. I woke up to him playing Metallica on an electric guitar." she said. John shrugged.

"So what if the boss has some hobbies outside of the phobia junk? I would think that's healthy." he said, popping a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it.

"That's not the worst thing." Beth said with foreboding.

"Oh? What, does he knit, too? How terrible..." he said, and giggled a little more as he took a drag from the freshly lit cigarette.

"He pet Chance." Beth said, pointing to Chance, and John froze before he remembered he had smoke in his lungs, and ended up in a coughing fit, spitting out the cigarette and smacking his chest with his fist. When he was done, he wiped away the cough-induced tears from his eyes and looked at her in disbelief as he gulped in air.

"Hell no. B-boss hates that bag o' fleas." he said. "He talks about skinning the mutt and using him as a throw rug whenever you ain't around. You're just talkin' shit." he said. Beth raised a brow, mentally noting to yell at Jonathan later for making such horrid plans for her furry friend.

"I'm not joking. Chance came into the room. Jonathan started petting him, and even said he loved dogs." she said. John shook his head.

"Nah, you're seein' things, rugrat. The boss hates dogs. Can't stand 'em. He got bit real bad when he was a kid. Ya ever notice a scar on his right leg? Dog bite." he said. Beth stared at John. She didn't know Jonathan hated dogs for that reason. She just assumed he didn't like how messy they could be. And furthermore, John knew a piece of info she didn't. She almost felt insulted.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"I asked him why he didn't like dogs, and he was straight up with me." he said.

"Hmm..." Beth absorbed the information and began to pace. If he hated dogs so much, then why was he fawning over Chance all this morning?

"So, you see, that's why the boss couldn't have done any of what you said he did. He only puts up with the wolf because it's yours." John said. Beth stopped and turned back to him.

"I'm not seeing things, look, just watch. Chance, boy." she said, and Chance wagged his large tail at the sound of her voice saying his name, knowing she had a task for him. Beth pointed to Jonathan, who was talking with Michael off on the other side of the warehouse, coffee in his hand. "Go to Scarey, Chance. Go on!" she said. Chance looked immediately to Jonathan, having been taught that he was 'Scarey'. He huffed once in understanding at Beth and bounded across the warehouse, Beth and John watching intently. When Chance reached Jonathan and Michael, he yipped at Jonathan, earning a smile from Michael, but a scowl from the target.

"Miss Niles! Take control of your mutt, _please_!" he called angrily when his eyes found her. As he raised his coffee away from Chance, as if the animal would somehow contaminate it just by being near it. Beth's mouth dropped open, and John chuckled as he returned to whatever he was doing.

"Told you..." he said quietly, and Beth stormed over to Jonathan, ignoring him. When she reached him, she patted Chance on the head to calm him down a she glared at her boss.

"Why the sudden repulsion?" she asked. Jonathan looked at her over his glasses.

"Since when was my obvious annoyance with that beast _sudden_?" he asked. Beth's eyes narrowed.

"Don't play dumb, doc! You were petting him this morning!" she said. Jonathan raised a surprised brow.

"When the hell did I do that?" he asked.

"Just a few hours ago! And you said you loved dogs! And you were fine with Chance! And you were playing guitar! _And you don't like milk in your coffee!_" she yelled when she noticed that his coffee was once again a brown tinge from the addition of milk. It seemed the entire warehouse had stopped what it was doing. All of the lackeys looked shocked at Beth as she took labored breaths while she stared belligerently at the coffee. Even the new guys dared to shy away from their stations to get a better view. Jonathan and Michael just stared at her in mild surprise. The room was completely silent, the only sound being Beth's hard breathing. She gripped her arms tightly, feeling like she was about to lose it. Michael seemed to notice her ticking time-bomb temper, and cleared his throat before barking orders at everyone else to get back to work, and in seconds the room was full of busy sounds again. Beth felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Jonathan looking concernedly back at her.

"We should speak in my office..." he muttered, and lead her to the small room on the second floor. He sat her down in a green chair before closing the door, giving them privacy. He set down the coffee on the desk, and sat down opposite her. "How long have you been having hallucinations, Bethany?" he asked. Beth's eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

"Wh-what?" she asked. Jonathan sighed, and leaned back in his seat.

"You're obviously having hallucinations, from what you just described earlier, saying I was actually getting along with the dog-"

"But you were!" Beth interrupted. "I can't believe you're doing this! I'm not being crazy!" she said.

"I'm not saying you're crazy, Bethany. I'm just saying you're seeing things that haven't happened. You know I can't stand that beast, and here you are saying I was actually saying I loved him. That's absolutely-"

"Crazy?" Beth asked angrily.

"I was going to say that it was ridiculous." he said. Beth snorted.

"Right..." she muttered. Jonathan took off his glasses and pinched the brim of his nose.

"Look, just from that episode out there, I can tell that you're obviously stressed out at the very least. I'm going to have Michael take you home. I want you to rest, and we'll have a session once I return." he said, and pressed an intercom button. "Michael, come to my office." he said, his voice traveling throughout the entire warehouse.

"I don't get any say in this?" Beth asked.

"From what you have been saying so far, no, you don't have any say. Just get some rest-"

"What if you're the one being crazy?" Beth asked. Jonathan shot her a glare.

"Careful, girl..." he warned. Beth scoffed.

"You're saying _I'm_ crazy! Why can't I say _you're_ crazy!?" she asked. He tapped the desk, his agitation growing. She continued. "I mean, what if you're just forgetting things, and falsely accusing me of all this! Jonathan, you have to believe me. I'm not making any of this up in my head!" she thunked her head onto the table, breathing heavily. Jonathan cocked his head at her as Michael walked in.

"Yeah, boss?" he asked. Jonathan pointed to the disheveled Beth.

"Take her home. And make sure she stays there. If she's really having hallucinations, I don't want her sneaking out and getting herself into trouble." he said. Michael nodded in compliance and helped Beth stand. She cast one more pitiful look at Jonathan before being escorted out, and he was left alone, the only thing keeping him company being the sound of the old ceiling fan spinning slowly above his head.

He tapped the table again, thinking about the recent events. What in God's unholy name made her think up such a ridiculous scenario? Petting that giant ball of fleas...

"Unfathomable..." he muttered. He frowned. Or was it? Resting his cheek on his hand, he thought back to that morning. He woke up. Couldn't get back to sleep. Had Michael bring in the guitar. Played the guitar. Answered Beth's questions...then what? Went to work right afterwards? Still thinking, he brought his coffee mug up and took a sip, then made a sour face and spat the coffee back into the cup before looking at it reproachfully. God that tasted awful. Too sweet.

"Too sweet..." something clicked in Jonathan's mind and he stared into the mug at the light brown substance, remembering what Bethany had burst out earlier.

_'And you don't like milk in your coffee!'_

"I don't like milk in my coffee..." he mumbled robotically. That was right. He didn't like milk in his coffee. Who the hell gave him this? "I'll kill them-" he began to say, but stopped himself. It took him this long to realize this change? When the mug was nearly empty? When did he even get coffee, anyway? Jonathan slumped back into the seat, utterly dumbfounded. What the hell was going on? He shook his head and swept back his hair. Perhaps his dear assistant was onto something. But what? What could possibly cause him to forget past experiences and change preferences without even noticing. His mind raced around the mental shelves of psychiatric books that he memorized word for word until he finally found one small solution. His brow furrowed at the possibility.

"Inconceivable..." he said with force. That was impossible. He'd never had such an issue befall him before. It would be a bloody waste of time investigating it...

But...

Jonathan opened the drawer to his left and removed a notepad and pen. He removed the cap from the pen and began scrawling the details of the last few minutes on it. A simple trick he'd learned from his psychiatry professor. If he could keep everything he did for the next few days written down, dated, and in order, then he'd know for certain that he wasn't afflicted with the small possibility that plagued his mind.

"Multiple personality disorder..." he said, and gave a short laugh after he finished writing on the little notepad. "Ludicrous..."

...

**Author's Note: **_**Heeeey.**_**...how ya guys doin'? Sorry, been on Hiatus for a while because of senior stuff and junk. Went to GradBash at Universal Studios two days ago, it was awesome.**

ANYWAY, yup, Jonny's got the 'ole character switcharoo disease, aka, Multiple personality disorder. Ya, I said I didn't wanna do that in the last story, saying that I'd be beating a dead horse with a worn out stick. BUT, what if I beat the horse with a _**different **_**stick? Eh?...**_**EH?!**_** Think about it, let the brain process. **

**Hope you like the chapter! Kinda short, I know, but I was rushing today. The next one will be longer, promise. Love you all! ;D**


	5. Bethany Gets Reckless

Bethany slumped down on the small couch in the living room of her house and ground her teeth together. Michael tsked at her from his spot at the door, his arms crossed.

"Are you going to talk to me about this?" he asked. "I don't deserve silent treatment."

"You took his side. You deserve silent treatment." Beth muttered, and closed her mouth again. Michael sighed, and walked over to seat himself next to her.

"Alright, kiddo. One: the guy I took sides with is a psychotic maniac who also happens to be my boss and source of income. Two: I didn't take sides anyway. I simply took orders. It's my job. So don't you be gettin' all pouty faced with me, alright?"

"I want to blow something up..." was Beth's grunted reply.

"You and your rocket launchers..."

"I want to blow a very specific thing up..." Beth continued.

"The factory?" Michael asked.

"No, not the factory. Then we wouldn't have anything to make business with. No, I'd rather just blow the shit out of that stupid little office that I know he's sitting in right now, making notes for my next session!" Beth punched the arm of the couch. "He says I'm hallucinating! Can you believe it? The nerve of that jerk! And now he's put me on house arrest with a damn babysitter! How old does he fucking think I am?!" Beth stood up and paced, her hands clenching and unclenching as she muttered profanities under her breath.

"He's only worried about you." Michael said. Beth sighed exasperatedly at that.

"I hate him right now. Don't take that away from me." she said. "I need to go out. I need a drink...maybe five drinks..." Michael shook his head at this.

"No, boss' orders were to keep you here so you stay out of trouble-"

"We're always in trouble-"

"Just in case you really are having these hallucinations. I'm not taking any chances, so you're staying put." he said. Beth stopped pacing, and looked directly at Michael.

"Keep me here so I will stay out of trouble, huh?" she asked. Michael's face filled with hesitation then, and he nodded. "So If I were to do the exact opposite..."

"Then boss would go on a rage and let all Hell loose looking for you." Michael said. Beth thought about the prospect, and smirked. She walked towards Michael.

"You know you can't beat me, right?" she said. Michael sighed through his nose and nodded.

"I know what's coming."

"I knew you would."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"That's fair." and before Michael could move, Beth brought her hand down in a diagonal motion and struck his neck, knocking him unconscious. She pated his head before running out. "Sorry Michael." she whispered, and ran towards the old, beat-up car that she was escorted home in. As she walked, her cell rang, and she glanced down at the number. She smiled. Chance watched tiredly from under the tree he slept by as she roared the engine to life and sped away down the treelined road towards whatever the night had in store for her.

...

"Aw, geez, toots, you really need a new car!" Harley said as she hopped into the passenger seat of the car ten minutes later, sporting a red and black checkered mini-skirt, a white blouse, black latex boots, and a pitiful expression as her eyes wandered the car's sad state. It was her who had called earlier, and luckily she was just as fed up with Mister J's treatment as Beth was with Jonathan's.

"Shut it, will you? I took it from one of Jonathan's guys. We don't sport the best cars in the market." Beth said as she revved down the road. "At least it runs." Harley scowled, remembering her reason for being there.

"Hey, I thought I could fix the car! I didn't mean to blow it up and all our dynamite! He didn't have to kick my ribs!" she said, and crossed her arms before sticking her tongue out at Beth, who frowned.

"Why do you let him do that?" she asked. "Apparently you let him get away with a lot of stuff..." Harley waved off the comment.

"Nah, not all of it. Mistah J knows when he needs to stop. He knows not to cross the line with me."

"That sound ominous." Beth said. Harley leaned over to her.

"Sweety, I'm frickin' crazy enough to date the Joker. That technically makes me crazier than him. Trust me. He knows his limits, and exactly what Harley Quin can dish out when she's really pissed off!"

"Okay, calm down. What do you want to do tonight?" Beth asked as they arrived to the road that lead to the busiest part of Gotham. Harley shrugged and thought, her bottom lip pouting out as she tapped her chin and twirled on of her pigtails around her finger.

"I dunno, Red. Girl's night out sounds fun! But we gotta pick up somebody first!"

"Who?"

"Who do ya think? The original Red! The girl with the green thumb of death! Miss sexy plant herself!" Harley said with excitement, as if she were introducing someone to a crowd of cheering people. Beth only furrowed her brow.

"Ivy's in Arkham, though." she said. Harley snapped her fingers.

"Ya said ya wanted to piss off Jonathan by gettin' into trouble, right? What gets someone in more trouble than risking their freedom by breaking into jail! Nothin'!" she said. Beth relayed the idea in her head, Harley saying "Please, please, please," the entire time. Finally, she nodded.

"Alright, fine. Might as well get my face in the papers." Harley grinned and punched the air in triumph.

"Yay! Here we come, Ivy! Woo!" After that, the excited blonde hung her head out the window yelling profanities at all the passerby.

"Okay", Beth muttered. "A little more than I wanted, but what the hell, right?" she tried to reassure herself, but secretly hoped to whatever God there might be that she wouldn't be in cuffs at the end of the night.

...

"Harley...shut...up..." Beth hissed an hour later her burlap kerchief. They were at Arkham, and Beth was currently attempting to override the security system while Harley was busy singing the song Blow by Kesha, doing cartwheels in the Jester leotard she'd changed into the entire time. Harley stopped her attempts at hitting notes and pouted.

"Aw, sorry, did I distract ya from your ninja stuff?" she asked sincerely. Beth rolled her eyes. Everything she did Harley always labeled as "Ninja Stuff". Ridiculous.

"Shhh..." she said, and got back to altering the wires and recoding the system. When she was done, she wiped her forehead. "Damn, they're getting better every year. I'll need to update my equipment soon..."

"You got it though, right?" Harley asked. Beth nodded as she stood and unrolled the white sleeves to her Riding Hood uniform. She put back on her red trench coat and pulled up the hood before leading Harley to a window that lead to the empty cafeteria. She wrenched it open and climbed inside, checking for any personnel before motioning for Harley to follow her. Once both were inside, Beth lead them through the cafeteria and out to the hallway. After walking a ways, Beth heard footsteps, and had Harley hide behind a crate as she leaped up and latched onto a grate on the ceiling, then wrapped her legs over a pipe to keep herself hidden. Moments later, a guard walked forward. Before he passed Beth, she swung down by her knees and grabbed te guards head, twisting it before he could react. He fell to the floor, and Beth landed next to him on her feet. Harley clapped in excitement.

"Shh." Beth said.

"You're ninja stuff is so fun to watch!" Harley whispered with glee, and shut up.

They both finally made it after fifteen minutes and four kills to the Rogue Gallery. Beth punched in the new security code she created for the system, and the large metal doors opened in welcome. They walked inside, and Harley ran up to Ivy's cell.

"Hey, Ivy!" she whispered.

"Harley, what are you doing here?" Ivy asked boredly, not bothering to keep quiet.

"We came to get you, silly!" Harley whispered. Ivy rose a brow.

"_We_?" she asked.

"I'm here too, Ivy." Beth mumbled from a new control panel as she hacked the mechanism that controlled the doors to the cells. "Easy.." she muttered, as she soon had it under her control. She panned down to Ivy's cell number, and pushed the button that opened the door to it. The door clicked, and Ivy walked out, stretching away weeks of boredom.

"Oh, wildflower, you're so kind so me..." she said in her silky voice. Beth grunted in acknowledgment as she continued to stare at the control panel. She noticed that Hatter, Two-Face, Riddler, and Ventriloquist were all here as well. Shrugging, she unlocked their doors, and walked down the hall, tapping on the large glass walls to their cells to rise them.

"Wakey-wakey, Riddles." she said when she finally reached Riddler's cell. He gave a sound of annoyance, yawned, and sat up before brushing back his red hair so he could see who dared wake him. When his eyes beheld Beth, they widened.

"What a pleasant surprise, Niles. Come to take me to dinner?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Leave the idiot. Let's go." Two-Face said paces away. Riddler pouted.

"Aw, so you're here to free everyone, and not just me. Oh well." He stood up and walked out from his cell, stretching his arms skyward. He eyed the others when he was next to Beth. "Where's your boss? Or did he decide to remain in the safety of the getaway car?"

"'Crow's not here tonight. I'm here on my own accord." Beth said, and they began to walk towards the exit. Riddler gave a dramatic gasp.

"Can these words be true? You never go on missions without Crane. You haven't decided to go solo, have you?" he asked. "I wouldn't blame you, but still; what a shock."

"No, I haven't gone solo." Beth muttered. "Jonathan just decided to really piss me off tonight, so I'm returning to favor by going against orders. After this, me Harley and Ivy are hitting the city."

"Oooh, rebellious tonight, flower? You're usually so responsible." Ivy said when they reached the door. Beth smiled, but motioned for everyone to keep quiet as she checked outside.

"It's clear." she whispered when she poked her head back inside. "Let's go." The rogues followed her down the path she and Harley entered in, passing the dead bodies Beth had left along the way. Scarface whistled in Ventriloquist's arms.

"Ol' Strawman really _did _piss ya off, huh babes?" he whispered when they passed a body with a screwdriver lodged in his neck.

"Shh." Beth stopped them, and checked around the corner. No one there. "Come on." she walked a few more paces before stopping at the cafeteria doors. She peeked in through the narrow door windows. Still no one. "Alright. Get to the window on the far side and hop through. Then get to the car and pile in as best you can. I wasn't expecting picking up more than one person tonight, so forgive me for the cramped space." Beth ushered them through the doors and they did just as instructed. When Harley finally hopped through the window, Beth closed the cafeteria door and ran towards the window.

"Going somewhere, Riding Hood?" came a familiar, dark voice. Beth tsked, and drew her black handgun before wheeling around to find Batman. It was too dark though, and she could only glimpse some movement as he maneuvered through the area.

"Not in the mood tonight, Bats." Beth muttered, unperturbed by her inability to lock in on something.

"Why is Scarecrow releasing the Rogues? What's his angle?" Batman growled the questions demandingly.

"No Scarecrow, just me." Beth said.

"Gone solo, then? Interesting."

"I'm not solo!" Beth shouted.

"Then why?"

"He pissed me off! So I'm doing what I want tonight! That's it!"

"What'd he do?"

"None of your business!" Beth backed into the open window and hopped up onto the ledge. She heard something cut through the air towards her, and she dodged just before a batarang flew by her head. She fired a shot at Batman, and jumped out through the window, starting for the car at a sprint. She heard him running towards her, and she leaped up into a tree, jumping from branch to branch to keep herself elevated. The car was just feet ahead now, and she looked behind her, finding that he'd disappeared. She jumped to the ground and wrenched open the driver door before climbing inside and slamming the door shut. The other Rogues watched her as she cursed and revved the engine to life, then floored the gas pedal, catapulting them forward with a speed unexpected of a beat-up car.

"In a hurry?" Harley asked from the passenger seat. Ivy was in her lap, toying with her blonde hair.

"Batman."

"Oh..." suddenly the excitement in the car seemed to drop.

"Well it was nice to breath some fresh air for a few minutes." Riddler said as he picked his fingernails.

"I wish I had my gun..." Two-Face muttered. Riddler chuckled.

"There's only a fifty percent chance you'd fire it anyway." he said. Two-Face leaned over him angrily.

"Got something to say, loudmouth?"

"Get your faces out of mine, will you?"

"Why I oughtta-" Just as Two-Face went to punch Riddler, something heavy slammed down onto the hood of the car, denting it.

"Nuts!" Harley shouted. Beth cursed again and jerked the wheel to the left in an attempt to shake him. Batman's fists slammed down into the roof, and eight sharp points poked through, keeping him anchored as Beth went. She noticed this, and had Ivy take the wheel.

"Keep shaking the car so he stays occupied with trying not to fall." Ivy nodded and did as she was told. Beth reached under the passenger seat and retrieved multiple vials of fear toxin, usually used in case any police pulled them over. Now, she took the vials and rolled down the window. She leaned her torso outside it and swung the vials at Batman, breaking against his face and causing a cloud of vapor to surround his head. He shouted, and Ivy gave another jerk to the wheel, making him fall over. Beth grabbed his cape and pulled him down off of the roof and let him topple to the ground at high speed. She watched as he writhed before they turned a corner and he was swallowed by darkness. Sighing, with high amounts of adrenaline pulsing through her veins, she slid back inside the car and reclaimed the wheel.

"Nice one, honey." Ivy said as she nestled back into Harley's lap. "He won't be giving us any trouble for a while."

"I wouldn't think so." Beth said. "That was a mixture of high intensity toxin. Anyone else would die from that after a few minutes."

"Sadly for us, Batman isn't 'anyone else'." Ivy sniffed, and went back to toying with Harley's hair. In the back seat, Two-Face looked back at Riddler.

"Now," he growled. "where were we?" Scarface cackled as the sound of a punch was heard.

...

Two hours later, it was half past midnight. Beth had dropped Riddler, Two-Face, and Ventriloquist off in the Narrows, and now she, Ivy and Harley were walking towards a big time nightclub in Gotham Central. Harley had back on her miniskirt and blouse. Ivy wore black shorts, a dark green crop top, and black high heels. Beth had on a torn black shirt that showed her stomach with a glaring, neon purple jack-o-lantern printed on it and grey skinny jeans with holes in the knees and hightop converse. Her expression was one of intense worry as they walked towards the doors of the club.

"Why did you insist on bringing him?" she asked Harley, who was bouncing around in endless excitement.

"'Cause, Bats is screamin' for mommy, and the coppers can't do nothin'! Here Chancey, baby!" she called after the large wolf when he began to wander towards some other wary clubbers. He bounded back over to Harley and she scratched his ears. "He needs the exercise anyways! Lookit! He's gettin' fat!"

"He's just getting old, Harley." Ivy said, walking up to Chance. "Besides, he'll keep any creepos away from us if we become a tad too tipsy later on."

"The bouncer won't let him in." Beth said, trying to talk reason. "He's a huge animal. All that's aloud in these clubs are freaking chihuahuas!" Ivy took from her pocket a tube of black lipstick then, and coated her lips with it.

"Just leave that to me, darling." she said, and sashayed over to the bouncer when they reached the doors. He looked right at Chance and shook his head.

"Look ladies, no big dogs-mmph!" He was stopped when Ivy reached up and kissed him on the mouth. When she stepped back, his eyes were emotionless, as if caught in some sort of trance.

"Let us in, honey." Ivy demanded. The bouncer nodded robotically, and opened the door for them to enter. She turned back and viewed the line of people waiting to enter as well. She pointed to them. "And don't let anyone else in. We need room to keep our big boy comfortable, you know." The bouncer nodded, and Ivy led the girls and Chance into the club before he told the rest of the people to go away. "See?" she said to Beth. "I have this handled."

"I see." Beth said in slight awe at Ivy's abilities. This plant lady really knew how to get around. "But what if Chance get's in trouble?"

"I have some of my mutant plants growing under this club. If any police or other assholes arrive, I'll have vines shoot from under the floor and keep Chance safe from harm. Now relax, honey. This is supposed to be a fun night!" Ivy said, and brought Beth and Harley to a booth in the far corner. Chance sat next to them, watching the multicolored lights flash and people dance around the large room. Some looked at him tentatively, but his docile manner eventually calmed them down, and they continued their dancing. One girl, a teenager, ran up and pet him for a moment before rejoining her giggling friends.

"See?" Harley said to Beth. "He's a real ladies man!"

"Do you see any good men in here?" Ivy asked, taking Beth aback.

"I thought you hated men." she said. Ivy nodded.

"Yes, but I'm still a woman, darling. Once in a while I just need to release some pent up hormones, you see."

"Ah, okay."

"Ack, are we gonna talk all night, or can we go dance!" Harley yelled, and grabbed Beth's arm. "Dance with me!"

"Oh, no, I'd rather n-"

"C'mon! You're s'posed to go crazy tonight! If you can break a buncha crazies outta jail, then you can dance!" Before Beth could respond, Harley yanked her out of the booth and onto the dance floor. "C'mon, sway your hips like me!"

"I know how to dance, Harley."

"Course ya do! I taught you! Now sway you hips before I threaten you with dynamite!" Beth finally gave in, and began to dance, keeping in rhythm with the ever changing music. Harley took her hand and spun her around in a circle.

"Why doesn't Ivy join us?" Beth asked.

"She's too busy flirtin'!" Harley said, pointing to their booth. A handsome young man in a sports jacket was talking with Ivy as he pet Chance on the back. A smile smile played on Ivy's lips the entire time. "Poor guy." Harley said, and went back to dancing. Beth furrowed her brow.

"Why is he poor?"

"Every guy Ivy gets with ends up eaten by one of her plant thingies. Kinda creepy, but whatever floats her boat!"

"Oh, yeah..." Beth shivered a little at that. Ivy may have been a plant person, but she seemed all the more a black widow when it came to relationships.

"Oooh, a hunky guy's lookin' at ya, toots!" Harley said, and pointed to behind Beth. She turned to see the man Harley spoke of, but saw no one.

"Who are you-"

"I wanna drink." Harley said, forgetting the earlier remark, and snatched Beth from the dance floor and walked to the bar area. When they reached the bar, they each seated themselves on a stool and Beth called for the tender.

"I'll have a water please-"

"She'll have the most alcoholic thing ya got, buddy!" Harley said for her. "And so will I!" The tender nodded, and walked to the shelves of various liquor to make their drinks. Beth looked at Harley.

"I'm not going to drink that, Harley." she said in slight agitation.

"And why not?!" Harley asked. "You're not on duty, you're not bein' chased by Bat-head, an' you're tryin' to piss off your boss. Might as well get shit-faced before facing the wrath of Scary!" Beth went to argue, but realized that Harley made an excellent point. Normally she would always need to be on the alert when in public, and couldn't compromise her senses with alcohol, only ever drinking at home. But there was no reason to be on the alert tonight, and if she was going to face Jonathan later, she might as well make it to where she couldn't remember it in the morning. Besides, Ivy had them covered. She'd be fine tonight.

"Alright, I might as well. God knows when I'll have the chance to do this again." she said when the tender brought them both two tall glasses filled with a blue colored beverage.

"Atta girl! Now drink up! I wanna party!" Harley began to gulp down her drink, and Beth took a sip of hers. Her eyes widened. For an insanely alcoholic drink, it tasted pretty good. Like raspberries or something.

"What is this drink called?" she asked Harley, who slammed down her now empty glass.

"I dunno, but I wanna 'nuther one, pronto-rino!" she said, and the tender refilled her glass. Beth went to take another drink, and Harley tipped the glass upwards, making Beth take more than she wanted. "Drink up, drink up! No slow-pokin' around!" she said. Beth ended up swallowing half the glass before Harley let her set it down again. She coughed, and wiped her mouth with her hand.

"You're crazy!"

"No, I'm Harley!" Harley shouted, and laughed as if she told the funniest joke in the world. Beth sighed and took another long drink from her glass, and Harley clapped. "Yay! Tender, give 'er a 'nuther one!"

Beth felt the familiar numbness beginning to trickle into her mind. The worry began to fade, replaced by mild contentedness. When another drink was placed in front of her, she took it up happily. The last form of reason told her that tonight would be insane. But she didn't care. She forgot how to care at the moment. When the second drink was gone, she called for another, with Harley giggling like an idiot next to her. After her third, she looked back at the scene of dancing people and strobe lights. She thought she may have seen someone familiar in the crowd, but some people got in the way before she could tell. She shrugged. She wouldn't worry.

"Another drink, tender."

...

**Author's Note: Ack, who's in the crowd of people?! Who?! Oh, wait, I know. Ha. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next! And thanks for the reviews! :D**


	6. Bethany is Super Drunk

"I jus' can' stand when he looks at me all like I did sumthin' dumb..."

"I know, toots...s'stupid..."

Beth and Harley were at the bar two hours later after much drinking and dancing. They were both attempting to converse about how they felt about their bosses/boyfriends.

"Iz jus'..." Beth went on, "He sumtimes treats me like a...a kid 'r sumthin'. I'm not a kid no more..."

"Wudn't he like...your daddy 'r sumthin' when you were little?" Harley asked in a slur, her head resting on the booth. "Tha'...tha's weird. Tha's real weird."

"Yer real weird..."

"Nah, I'm jus' sayin'. Sumthin' like tha' might be why he's all actin' like yer a kid still. "Iz all psychol...psych...iz all in tha head." Harley tapped her head.

"I don' geddit..." Beth muttered and rest her chin on her cheek. Harley sighed, and sat up.

"Y'see, he wuz once yer sorta-kinda papa. Now he's yer boyfrien'. He might still have those sorta-kinda papa feelings in his head 'r sumthin'. He's jus' protective n' stuff. I would'n worry 'bout it too much..." she said, and took another drink as if she'd just worked hard to manage those words. Beth nodded slowly.

"Ooooh...I geddit. Tha's some deep shit." she said, and also took a drink. Ivy walked over to them, completely sober and shook her head at their state.

"Hello, darlings." she said. They both smiled at her.

"Hiya, Red!" Harley hiccuped. "Join us fer a drink!"

"I'll do that shortly. I just need to get something out of the way first." she said, and Beth and Ivy saw that she was holding the wrist of the handsome guy they saw her with earlier. He was looking rather excited, and even cocky that he was with one of the hottest girls in the club. Beth looked back over to their booth. Chance was being pet by half the girls in the club. He really was a ladies man. "I'll be right back, ladies. Don't do anything crazy without me." with that, Ivy led the boy to the restrooms.

"He's _doooomed_..." Harley said in an attempt to be ominous.

"Super doomed..." Beth muttered.

"Is someone doomed?" came a new voice, and both girls turned around to see where it came from. Harley giggled.

"Tha's tha guy who was lookin' atcha earlier, kiddo." she whispered loudly in Beth's ear. Beth didn't hear her though. She was too busy staring at the man.

It was Bo Griggs, and he was smiling smugly back at Beth as she continued to look, her mouth slightly open. He threw his shoulders back, making the already tight black polo shirt he wore seem tighter, showing off his build. He swept back his wavy hair.

"Struck speechless, are we?" he asked jokingly. Beth frowned at him in response, and turned around in her seat.

"Go 'way..." she muttered. Harley scoffed, and spun her back around to face him.

"This guys wan's a dance, n' ya only danced wiff me all night. Go dance!" she pushed her out of the stool, and Beth stumbled, but Bo caught her before she fell to the ground. He picked her up like a doll and set her back on her feet easily with his large arms.

"Careful," he said, "wouldn't wanna ruin that pretty face, would you?" he asked. Before Beth could reply with an insult, he had her on the dance floor, both of her hands in his so she couldn't escape if she tried. He danced her in circles, with no form of elegance, keeping a devilish smile on his lips. Beth wanted to go, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fight him off in this condition. She cursed herself for drinking so much. So she'd amuse the fucker for now, then plan to torture him the next time they met, and she'd be sure to be quite sober. "Come here often?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Nuh-uh.." she said.

"I do."

"Tha's cool." she said, purposefully showing as much displeasure with his presence as she could. He cocked his head to the side.

"You know, you're the first chick I've come across that seems to not be at all interested in me." he said. Beth huffed a laugh.

"Tha's 'cause all the chicks you see are bubble-brained nitwits." she said. "I prefer _brains_ over biggo muscles, so yer outta luck wid me..." she said with a scowl. Bo laughed.

"So I guess you're into geeks then?" he asked.

"Only one." she said.

"So you got a boyfriend? Where is he?" he asked.

"Not here. H's in trubble wid me..." Beth muttered, looking to the floor. Bo smiled wide, and leaned in close to her.

"So he ain't here, Is that right?" he pressed her against him. "Lady, I promise we can have some fun tonight. Your nerd boyfriend doesn't have to know..." when his breath hit Beth's ear, something rang like an Arkham alarm in her brain. Finding some clarity, she shoved Bo back as hard as she could in her state and backed away. Bo huffed once in agitation, but brought back his smile. "Aw, come on girly. Don't play like that." he said, walking back toward her. He took her arm, and she tried to pull away. He had a good grip on her now, and she couldn't call more strength. "Most likely, you won't even remember."

"Jon...Jonathan..." she said numbly. The strobe lights seemed to be getting brighter, hurting her eyes. "Harley!" she yelled finally when Bo began groping her waist. In a second, the drunk clown girl was by Beth's side. She shot her fist out at Bo and it knocked him in the jaw. He staggered back, releasing Beth. He looked darkly at Harley.

"Take that, ya creepy freako-perv!" Harley slurred, her face full of protective anger. She grabbed Beth and brought her over to their booth where Chance was awaiting them, still being pet by girls. "Alright, get outta here! Clear tha space!" The girls gave Harley a dirty look, but did as they were told, saying by to Chance as they left. Harley sat Beth down and patted her back. "Iz all good." she said.

"I wan' coffee..." Beth muttered, watching as Bo stalked to the other side of the club. She shivered, wondering how far he would have gone had Harley not interveined. It was scary.

"Aw, babe, yer shakin'." Harley said. "Lemme go get tha' coffee. Hold on." Harley walked off to the bar area, leaving Beth alone with Chance. He rest his large head on her lap and looked up at her with his big eyes. She stroked his fur.

"S'okay, boy. I'm fine. Jus' a bit tipsy iz all..." she mumbled. When Harley came back, she had in her hands a tall glass of water and a mug of hot coffee. Beth took it gratefully and sipped it, welcoming the burning warmth. After about thirty minutes and four cups of coffee, she began to feel better.

"You doin' alright?" Harley asked, who was drinking her own cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I'm startin' to be able to think clearly now." Beth said with a small smile. She looked into her mug at the dark liquid. God, what was she thinking, doing this? She wanted to talk to Jonathan. "Aw, shit..." she said, when she realized he was going to chew her ass out for this. She placed her head on the table to hide her shameful expression. "He's so gonna gas me for this for sure..." Harley patted her on the back.

"Aw, c'mon! Ya weren't drunk enough to puke, an' all ya did was get a lil' felt up by some jerk. S'not like ya broke everyone outta jail or nothin'!" Beth eyed her friend.

"Keep drinkin' that coffee, sweetheart..." she said, and sighed. Breaking into a high security asylum to break everyone out. Then barely getting away from the Batman. Completely reckless. Yeah. Jonathan was gonna go mad scientist when he found her. "I don' _caaaare_..." she muttered, wishing he were there all the same. After that freak attack from Griggs, she really just wanted to be next to him. Jonathan meant safety.

"Why the long faces?" came a familiar silky voice. Ivy sat down next to Beth, curious. Beth pouted.

"I wanna talk to Jonathaaaan..." she whined. Ivy's brow furrowed.

"I thought you wanted to make him angry..." she said. Beth shook her head.

"Was a stupid idea from stupid me 'cause I'm stupid..." she said. Ivy looked at Harley and pointed at the blubbering girl in mass confusion.

"A freako grabbed her boob an' now she's freakin' out 'cause doctor ain't here to comfort her..." Harley said simply, and took another drink from her coffee. Ivy scowled.

"Where the hell is that insect? I'll pull him apart with my bare ha-"

"No, no, no!" Beth latched onto Ivy's arm before she could stand. "That guy's reserved! No stealing!"

"Reserved?"

"Yeah, Jonathan knew 'im a long time ago and now he wants to kill 'im so no stealing!" Beth said, and dropped her hands to her lap. "I can't believe I let him freakin' grope me...I'm dirt..." Ivy cooed at her and tucked back a strand of her hair.

"No, you're not, flower. You were just a little drunk is all. You couldn't have done anything in that state of mind."

"Yeah, an' good thing I was there ta sucker punch 'im!" Harley made a swinging motion with her fist. "That sure scared the stinker off!"

"You see?" Ivy said. "We wouldn't have let that piece of garbage take you at all. You're safe with us, don't worry." Beth felt a little more reassured by Ivy's words, but that still didn't stop her from wanting to see Jonathan. She wanted to be scolded for being so dumb. She checked the time on her cell. Yeah. He'd be looking for her right now. She flipped the cell open and found he had apparently been calling, because there were forty-six missed calls and sixteen unread messages. She flipped through some of the messages, all pretty much saying 'where the hell are you' and 'goddammit answer your phone'. Beth gulped, wishing she hadn't decided to put her phone on silent.

"So what happened to that guy you picked up?" Harley asked Ivy after about fifteen minutes of awkward silence.

"Oh, him?" Ivy waved her hand in the air dully. "He was okay, but I think my fly trap enjoyed him a little more than I did. Kind of sad, really..." she said. Harley wrinkled her nose.

"Ew, really Red, can't ya just catch and release?"

"What's the fun in that? Half of what gets me off is just hearing men begging for their miserable lives." Ivy said with a coy smile. Beth snorted into her coffee.

"Way too much information, Ivy."

"Harley wanted to know..."

"And now I'm blocking it!" Harley yelled, and they each laughed. Ivy spotted a small commotion by the door.

"What's going on, I wonder..." she said, pointing to the small crowd of people by the entrance.

"_Where the hell is she_?" they heard someone asked tiredly with aggression.

"Over there, man!" was some poor soul's reply. A moment later, the small crowd parted to let by the aggressor and the two men that flanked him.

"Oh, looky who's here to ruin the fun..." Harley mumbled, and rest her cheeked on her hands, bummed out. Beth's eyes widened when she saw the person, and squeaked.

Jonathan was walking in their direction with Michael and John, scanning the crowd angrily for someone who she knew was her. John spotted the girls and tapped Jonathan's shoulder to look over in their direction. He did, and as soon as his eyes landed on Bethany, she knew she was in severe trouble.

"Oh my. He looks tired..." Ivy said in amusement. Beth gave a small, hysterical laugh.

"He looks _fucking pissed_ is what he looks like..." she said. Ivy smiled.

"Hey, you wanted to talk to him. Now you can."

"I'd like to retract that statement, ma'am..."

"I could make him go away..." Ivy said, her emerald eyes flashing bright as she did. Beth really thought her offer over as Jonathan stomped closer to them, his composure hiding his rage. She finally sighed, and shook her head.

"If I let you do that, he'd only get more angry. Might as well take the heat now and get it all over with..." she said, and motioned for Ivy to let her out of the booth. When she was standing, she looked down at her feet and waited for Jonathan to finally reach her. "He's gonna blow up the whole club..." she mumbled before he was finally in front of her. She felt his labored breath hit the top of her head, but she still didn't look up. She felt like a child.

"Miss...Niles..." Jonathan's first words to her were barely above a whisper. Beth's toes curled in her shoes as she braced herself for the worst. She peeked up at his face, his eyes boring into her skull through his rectangular glasses. Suddenly, she felt a little better. The fear went away as she realized that Jonathan was finally next to her. Biting her lip, she quickly reached forward and hugged him, pinning his arms to his sides and making him go rigid with surprise. She breathed in his scent.

"_Awwwe..._" she heard Harley give a little squeal behind her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she talked into his suit jacket. "I was dumb and angry at you and I wanted to make you mad and I busted everyone out of Arkham and then I drank a lot but then I was like 'I wish Jonathan was here' and now you're here and I'm drunk and I'm so, so sorry." she said quickly.

"You knocked Michael out..." Jonathan muttered. Beth nodded.

"Uh-huh..."

"You stole the car he brought you home in..."

"Uh-huh..."

"And now you're here, blubbering like a drunken imbecile..."

"Yeah, I know..." Tears pricked Beth's eyes and stained his Jacket.

"Why did you do all of that?"

"Because you made me mad, but-"

"So, I made you angry, and you in turn decide to make me angry by having me search all of Gotham for you, only to find you because 'That one club has some bigass dog in it'." Jonathan said, quoting multiple people that he passed while searching. "Bethany, you have no idea how absolutely infuriated I am with y-_mmph_." Beth interrupted him by pressing her lips against his. He attempted to bring her away from him, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her level. He finally growled in annoyed defeat and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her slightly so he could stand up straight.

"Jeez..." John muttered.

"I know, right?" Ivy said from her seat, catching John's eye.

"Well hel-_lo_, pretty lady." he said, and began to walk towards her when she pointed a threatening finger at him.

"Come near me, and I'll make you into plant feed..." she said, and John backed off.

"Oh, miss Ivy, didn't know it was you there." he said nervously, and hid behind Michael, who smacked him upside the head. Beth finally backed off of Jonathan and looked down at her feet again.

"S-sorry...I just missed you...sorry..." she mumbled. Jonathan massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers.

"I need a drink..." he said, and ushered Beth to sit down so he could. Once seated, he rest his arm over Beth's shoulder and noticed the emptied coffee mugs around the table. "Why the coffee?" he asked. He didn't notice Harley and Ivy cast each other evil smiles.

"_Well_, we _were_ havin' fun, but some asswipe that _you_ apparently know went and ruined _everything_..." Harley said dramatically. Jonathan raised a brow at Beth.

"_What_?" he asked. Beth gave a sheepish chuckle.

"Well...uh.."

"She was _assaulted_..." Harley said. Then Ivy leaned towards Jonathan.

"_Sex_-u-al-ly." she said each syllable one at a time, putting emphasis on 'sex'. Beth hissed at them to be quiet, but Jonathan's sudden stillness made her realize it was too late. Her small moment of peace was over.

Dammit.

Jonathan was silent for ten painful seconds before he finally spoke in a deathly whisper.

"Would someone care to explain..."

"No," Beth muttered, and grabbed his jacket. "Can we just sit and ta-"

"What the fuck happened?"Jonathan interrupted angrily. Beth felt his hand grip her shoulder tightly and she clenched her jaw shut.

"We were drinking, see..." Harley began. "And a guy walked up to the bar. He took Beth to the floor to dance. A minute later, she called for my help, and I punched him in the jaw when I saw him putting his slimy hands all over her shaking body..." Harley put emphasis on 'shaking', and Jonathan ground his teeth together. Beth glared at Harley.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked, her own temper rising.

"You said he wanted to kill him anyway." Harley replied. "He might as well do it now, and we wanna watch it happen." she pointed to Ivy, who nodded in agreement. Jonathan narrowed his eyes.

"_Who_ do I want to kill anyway?" he asked. Ivy leaned back in her seat, taking up a glass of scotch and swirling it around slowly.

"I believe the little flower said he went by the name Bo Griggs..." she said. Jonathan was quiet at first as the information sank in, then his hands clenched into fists, and he began to breath heavily.

"Is this true?" he asked, looking to Beth. She nodded quickly, and his lips pressed together to make a thin line. "Taking advantage of the first alcohol induced woman he sees. He hasn't changed much..." He forced a laugh, and slammed his fist into the table. "And he decides to go after _my_ girlfriend of all the women in here." he said. Michael and John cracked their knuckles in anticipation. Ivy and Harley both smiled, hoping for something fun to happen soon. "I'll have his fucking hands run over." Jonathan said, and stood. "Where is he?"

"No, Jonathan-" Beth grabbed his jacket again to keep him from going anywhere, and he looked down at her.

"Why are you attempting to stop me? He touched you-"

"I know, but-"

"Are you taking his side? Is that it?"

"Jonathan, just _shut up_!" Beth yelled at him, and he blinked wildly at her in shock.

"You dare-"

"Yes, I _dare_, Jonathan." Beth said, and forced him to sit back down. "Just sit, okay? It's always 'business this' or 'kill them' with you when you're out. I'm trying to have a good time." she said. "Just pretend for a moment that you aren't a mad doctor bent of spreading fear over Gotham. Let's just sit, and talk. Okay? Please?" she asked pleadingly. Jonathan continued to clench his jaw as he ran through his choices. He sat back roughly into the cushioned seat.

"Fine. For now." he said. Beth nodded, and sat back, relief washing over her. Sure, she would have loved seeing Jonathan kill Griggs in the worst ways imaginable. But for now, she just wanted to talk to him.

"So, um. Where did you go looking for me?" she asked. Jonathan sighed.

"Michael, John." he said to his henchmen, "Go have a drink and talk with people or something. I'll call you when I need you." he said, and turned to Beth as they walked off.

"I went home, found Michael, woke him up, then searched everywhere. I went to our old place, I went to the park, I went to some past hideouts. I was going towards the Iceberg Lounge when I heard people mentioning the mutt." he jutted his thumb at Chance, who lolled his tongue out the side of his mouth and yipped. "And now we're here."

"I got everyone out of Arkham and came here." Beth said. Jonathan nodded.

"I saw on the television." he said. "Red Riding Hood kills guards and frees psycho allies. It was an interesting story."

"Batman almost got us, but I hit him with a bunch of toxin." she said.

"Yeah, knocked him right offa the roof!" Harley said cheerfully. Jonathan sighed.

"You're too reckless." he said. "It would have taken me weeks to free you if you'd been captured..."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Ugh, Jonathan..." Ivy said from her seat. "Take off your damned coat already. You look like a stiff..."

"He always does..." Harley said. Jonathan hooded his eyes at the women, but took off his coat, revealing a white, long sleeved, collard shirt and tie.

"Happy?" he asked, placing the coat neatly next to him.

"Lose the tie..." Ivy ordered. "We're at a _club_, not a church_._" Jonathan huffed and removed his tie.

"There, that's it. No more." he said, and crossed his arms after setting the tie down on his coat. Ivy smirked.

"I dunno, Crane darling. You might need some more fix-ups to meet club requirements." she said coyly, and turned to Beth. "What do you think, flower?" Beth looked over Jonathan's attire and appeared to think.

"May I?" she asked, finally reaching out towards him. He raised his brow at her, but nodded for her to proceed. She reached over and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, then reached up and tousled his wirey red hair a bit, making some of his once slicked back bangs fall over his forehead. She felt his eyes on her as he allowed her to unbutton the cuffs to his shirt and bunch his sleeves up to his elbows. She then took off his glasses, but put them back on after a moment of consideration. "I like the glasses." she said. "Okay, I'm done."

"Woo, ol' Scary trashes up pretty good, huh, Ivy?" Harley said, making an exaggerated purring sound.

"Hmm, have you ever seen Jon like this, Bethany?" she asked. Beth shrugged.

"Only when he's working on his chemicals." she said. Harley grinned mischievously.

"Ya mean when he's all sweaty and agitated with those calculations?" she asked.

"Chewing on that pencil, trying to think and sort out notes." Ivy added. Beth blushed slightly, and said nothing. Now Ivy was grinning.

"I think we just tapped into one of our darling Beth's sexy fantasies, Harls..." she said.

"Wha-huh?" Beth asked in shock. "I don-I never did."

"Denial." Both Ivy and Harley said at the same time. Beth blushed furiously, and the women had her in their claws.

"I bet you'd love Scary to throw you on that work table and make you scream..." Harley said with a giggle.

"Perhaps punish you for dropping some vials...on purpose..."

"I'm going to kill you both with with a dull axe..." Beth muttered darkly, and both Harley and Ivy cackled in delight, falling over each other as they went.

"I don't know..." said Jonathan, taking everyone's attention. He smirked at Beth. "That would explain that odd look I always catch you casting towards me..." Ivy and Harley laughed louder now, and Harley banged her fist against the table.

"_Oooh_! That was priceless! Scary's got a funny bone! I can't believe it!" Beth went to yell at Jonathan, but paused. He really did make a joke. She analyzed him. He was smiling as he took a sip from one of her coffee mugs. Chuckling, even. He was having a good time, and it wasn't due to a successful experiment. He was just happy. She couldn't believe it. She smiled, and looked into the crowd, mentally locking the image of this moment in her memory forever, making sure to add all the details. Someone caught her eye though, and her smile faded.

Bo Griggs was staring at her from the bar, a smirk on his face. She scowled at him, and he only smiled wider, happy with the discomfort he gave her. Beth cursed under her breath. If she told Jonathan, the moment was over. But Bo's glaring eyes was ruining the moment anyway. She'd have to be clever. An idea formed in her mind. It was ridiculous, but it would work. Sighing, she looked seductively up at Jonathan, who took another drink of coffee before noticing her gaze on him.

"What is it?" he asked. She bit her lip and grabbed his shirt, batting her eyes. His own eyes widened at the gesture.

"Dr. Crane..." she said in as best a mock-Ivy voice she could muster. Jonathan gulped, and Harley and Ivy watched intently. Beth brought his face next to her lips. "I've been bad..." she said in a whisper just next to his ear. Jonathan seemed to stop breathing as his eyes locked onto the neon purple pumpkin on her shirt. Beth's next words brought his gaze back to hers. "Aren't you going to punish me?" she asked sweetly.

"I-ah...what? I..." he cursed himself mentally for acting like such a schoolboy. What the hell was she doing to him? She leaned forward and brushed his cheek with her lips.

"Make me scream, doctor..." she said in a begging voice, and kissed him, her arms finding their way once again around his neck and her hands tangling in his hair. Harley and Ivy whistled at them and told them to get a room. When Beth pulled back, she glanced over at Griggs' spot at the bar. He looked agitated, and she smirked.

_'Yeah, this scrawny nerd is with me, and you aren't. Let that sink into your thick skull, you piece of shit...' _she thought devilishly. She took Jonathan's hand and stood, pulling him gently from the booth.

"Where are you two going?" Ivy asked suggestively.

"I wanna go home..." Beth said. "You guys mind if we take the car?"

"Nah, we can hotwire a new ride anytime." Harley said. "You two have fun."

"And give us details, flower."

"Lots of 'em!" Harley and Ivy laughed again, and began talking excitedly. Beth whistled for Chance, and he followed her and Jonathan.

"What about John and Michael?" Jonathan asked in a tone that didn't seem to care what happened to them anyway.

"Give 'em the rest of the night off. They seem to be having too much fun anyway." Beth said, pointing to them both. They were flirting with some girls at a booth, totally oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Alright..." Jonathan said, and followed Beth outside the club, where the noise of the city greeted them. Beth spied the car, and began to walk towards it. Chance ran ahead of them to it knocking someone over as he went. Beth shook her head and picked up her pace a bit to catch up.

"It ain't fun to mess with a man, sweetheart." came a voice from behind them. Beth knew it instantly, and her heart sank into her stomach as she turned to see Bo Griggs leaning against the club building. Jonathan saw him, and his hand that held Beth's tightened its grip instantly.

"_You_..." Jonathan said with intense hate.

"Dammit..." Beth mumbled. Bo cocked his head at Jonathan's comment.

"Do I know you, scrawny?" he asked. Jonathan seethed. The son of a bitch made his life a living hell, and he didn't even have the courtesy to remember his name...

**'Break his back. He'll remember then...' **he heard a familiar voice say. He shook his head, ignoring it and focusing on the situation.

"You touched my girl..." Jonathan said instead. Griggs scoffed.

"You sound like you're going to do something about it..." he said. Jonathan went to touch the pressure pad that was usually located on the palm of his hand and released a smog of toxin from a vial in his suit coat, but cursed when he remembered he'd left the coat in the club. He had nothing. Bo eyed his displeasure and smiled, looking him up and down. "Girly, you really coulda done better than this toothpick..." he said. Beth narrowed her eyes, and walked towards him. Jonathan tried to stop her, but she wrenched her arm out of his grasp and continued walking. When she reached Bo, he raised a curious brow at her. "Whatcha gonna do? Ya gonna hit m-"

_*SLAP*_

Jonathan widened his eyes as Beth backhanded Bo across the face. Bo touched his cheek where her nails grazed him, and he glared at her.

"You got some nerve, girl-"

"My name is Bethany, you uneducated _fuck._.." she said, and turned around and walked back to Jonathan. She rest her head on his shoulder when she was next to him, still staring hard at Bo. "There might be a million muscle-heads like you in the world who can pick up almost any girl they want. But there is only one person in the world who is Jonathan Crane. And sadly for you, I'm only interested in him." she said. Bo looked like he was hit by a train when she said Jonathan's name. He gawked at Jonathan, searching his features.

"_Crane_?" he said after a moment of processing. "You're Crane?" Jonathan, who was given confidence by Bethany's actions, smiled politely and adjusted his glasses.

"I remember you preferred to call me Scarecrow..." he said. Jonathan felt something odd then, as old memories came back. Images of his shadow flashed in his head and he coughed awkwardly as he felt his mind numb.

**'Scarecrow, Scarecrow, Scarecrow...' **the familiar voice echoed, and Jonathan felt lightheaded. He touched his forehead, trying to think clearly. He felt like he was sinking back into his conscience, his control over his body slipping away from him. It was suddenly as if he were in a theatre, and he was the only one attending the show.

'What the hell?' he asked, but no sound came from his mouth. He looked over at Griggs, who was livid.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Crane..." he heard him say before Griggs lunged at him. Jonathan wanted to dodge, but he couldn't. He had not control.

**"Come at me, you piece of shit..." **he heard himself say, but he didn't say that. Someone else did. Beth called his name from next to him in worry as he tried to fight for control. Griggs was near him now. Only a matter of seconds. Jonathan's body seemed to crouch predatorily, preparing for the attack.

The attack never came, however, for Chance jumped in front of Griggs and barked viciously in deadly warning. Griggs lept back in shock and surprise at the enormous beast who continued to snap at him. Jonathan felt like he was rushing towards the surface then, and clarity filled his once numbed mind. He lifted his hand as he regained control of himself, and he felt Bethany tugging on his arm.

"Jonathan, let's go." she said, and he nodded dully before allowing her to drag him to the car. She called Chance, and the wolf growled once more at Griggs before bounding to the can and climbing into the backseat. Griggs ran, and Beth placed Jonathan in the passenger's seat. She sat in the driver's seat and revved up the engine, quickly making her way out of the parking lot and into the street.

Jonathan was beside himself, staring outside the car window to the city lights. It was impossible. It couldn't be. The signs would have shown up much sooner had it been possible.

"Madness.." he whispered to himself.

**'Correct as always, Jonny-boy...' **came the familiar voice, and he shivered. No, it couldn't be.

Beth eyed her boss as she drove, remembering the moments before Chance interveined. She couldn't shake that horrifying smile Jonathan had as Griggs went after him. And that voice. That low, rasped voice gave her the chills. Even his movements were different in those few seconds. So loose. So...predatory. She shivered when a possibility entered her mind. No, it couldn't be that at all.

"To home..." she said, but Jonathan didn't answer.

...

When they walked inside, Beth flicked on the living room light. Jonathan sat down roughly on the couch, pinching the brim of his nose. She walked to the kitchen for a moment, and came back with a small bottle of wine. She sat down next to Jonathan, unscrewed the cap, took a swig, and offered the bottle to him. He accepted it and took a particularly long drink. Beth rest her chin on his shoulder, rubbing his back.

"We had a long night, huh doc?" she asked. He snorted and nodded.

"Yeah, that is what I believe they call 'understating'..." he said.

"At least I don't think I'll want to party for a while after this."

"_Good_." Jonathan said with severe agreement. Beth laughed, and sighed.

"I guess I'll be going to bed now." she said. Jonathan raised a brow, and looked over at her.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Bedtime. Sleep. Y'know." Beth said, and went to stand. Jonathan put down the wine bottle and grabbed her waist, setting her back down on the couch. He leaned over her.

"I went all over Gotham searching for you, and you think you can just go to sleep like that?" he asked. He leaned down and brushed his lips against her neck. He felt her shiver, and smiled.

"Jonatha-"

"Miss Niles..." he muttered, shutting her up. He brought his lips to her ear. "You've been rather disobedient..." he said, and bit her earlobe. She arched her back instinctively, and he grinned. "I'm afraid I'll have to punish you accordingly..." He placed his hand under her shirt.

"I...Jon.._huh_? I..." Beth squirmed under him, and he held her still. Her eyes locked with his as he continued to speak, her breath seeming to catch in her throat. His eyes narrowed to amused slits.

"I'm going to make you _scream_, Miss Niles..."

...

**Author's Note: Yeah, I ended it there! I'm just not good at that stuff! Shut up! **

**Lol, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next! School's out next week, so I should be able to work more on this! Yay!**

**Plus, I watched the new The Great Gatsby last night. That movie was frickin' wicked. I liked how it kept pretty close to the book. Plus, dat Leonardo DiCaprio. *squee***


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